Branch update

TAS BRANCH

BRANCH UPDATE BRANCH UPDATE

Wayne Hobson Wayne Hobson

NECA TAS President NECA TAS President

Our ability to work together has resulted in our state’s successful COVID-19 safe record. This is testament to the responsible and swift actions of our government, and the Tasmanian public. Both the state and federal governments are to be commended for their efforts to alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Upcoming legislation changes

One upcoming change that our industry needs to be aware of is the Electrical Safety The state and federal funded project will see the construction of a new, stateof-the-art training facility that will deliver training across a range of trades, including electrical, plumbing and water, refrigeration and air conditioning and smart buildings technologies, in order to meet industry demands. Over the past two years, NECA has been working with federal and state governments to train more qualified electricians and meet the demands of the

2020 CONTINUES TO BE A CHALLENGING TIME FOR EVERYONE. WITH 2021 nOW WeLL AnD TRuLY unDeRWAY, neCA MeMBeRS RUNNING A BUSINESS IN THESE TIMES HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY In TASMAnIA ARe AS BuSY AS eVeR. IT IS PLeASInG – AnD DIFFICULT WITH THE EVER-CHANGING RESTRICTIONS, A ReLIeF – THAT COnDITIOnS In THe InDuSTRY APPeAR TO UNCERTAINTY AND DOWNTURN IN THE ECONOMY. Be HeADInG BACK TO SOMe DeGRee OF nORMALITY AFTeR THe DISRuPTIOn THAT COVID-19 InFLICTeD On uS LAST YeAR, ALTHOuGH THeRe Bill 2020 (the Bill), which will be tabled in ’S STILL SOMe WAY TO GO. State Parliament later this year. Currently, Tasmanian legislation governing electricity It took close to a fortnight after polling safety is spread across three Acts that day on 1 May, but the recent state have not been updated since the 1990s. election in Tasmania saw the Liberal Party returned to office for a third term in majority, and Peter Gutwein re-elected as Premier. We congratulate the Premier NECA has been advocating on behalf of members and made a submission on the Bill in early 2020. and his team on their renewed mandate, The Bill will consolidate all electricity and look forward to continuing to work safety requirements, making it easier with them to advance the issues of our for people to find and understand safety industry. My expectation would be that very little will change in terms of our dealings with the State Government, given it’s been in office for seven years and we enjoy constructive relationships at both ministerial and executive levels. Our State excellence Awards are now ELECTRICAL TRAINING IN TASMANIA quickly approaching, and I would like to wish all the best to all of the apprentices and category entrants ahead of this year’s gala event. THE TASMANIAN GOVERNMENT RECENTLY ANNOUNCED PLANS neCA has been advising Consumer, Building and Occupational Services FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TASTAFE’S NEW TRADES AND WATER CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE. Tasmanian construction sector. This is a great opportunity for the electrotechnology industry, as the facility will have a strong focus on electrical trades, including refrigeration and air conditioning, as well as access to upskilling in renewables and hydrogen technologies. There are currently more than 500 electrotechnology apprentices at TasTAFE and the new site at Clarence will expand capacity and see more tradespeople trained in this key industry.

Tasmania (CBOS) on the review of several of its policies and codes of conduct, having made submissions regarding the Occupational Licensing (Supervision of Prescribed Work) Code of Practice 2019, and the Occupational Licensing (High Voltage electrical Work – Certification and energisation) Code of Practice. An update on our progress on the first of these reviews follows this article. At the most recent electrical Contractor Industry Liaison (eCIL) meeting in March, a number of issues of note were discussed. These included the following:  There is a review of AS/nZS 5033 (Australian Standards for the installation of solar panels) underway.

Comment on the proposed revised standard closed recently. One aspect of the review addresses the significant number of failures of DC isolators on installations, particularly

NECA TAS CALENDAR OF EVENTS

InDuSTRY ROADSHOWS

The Old Woolstore, Apartment Hotel

 Tuesday, 14 September 2021

The Boathouse Centre

 Wednesday, 15 September 2021

Paranaple Convention Centre

 Thursday, 16 September 2021

neCA eXCeLLenCe & APPRenTICe AWARDS Hobart Function and Conference Centre

 Saturday, 14 August 2021 For more information and to register scan this QR code, or visit www.neca.asn.au/necagroup/ content/tas-events