Advocacy Update re ARBV
The ACA VIC/TAS branch is pleased to inform its members that the proposed changes to the Architects Registration Board of Victoria, to reduce the number of members and remove the requirement for any member to be a registered architect, have been averted for now.
The Victorian State Government has decided not to present the Building and Heritage Amendment Act 2022 to the Upper House in the last week of the parliamentary sitting, and as such the Bill will expire at the table. This effectively means that the status quo remains.
Should the new Government decide to pursue the proposed reforms in the new Parliament (after the election on 26 November), it will need to start the process again, introducing a new Bill into the Lower House. This will give us a fresh opportunity to engage constructively with Government in the drafting of the new Bill.
The ACA and AIA have been very encouraged by the support received from many Members of Parliament. In particular, we are extremely grateful to Mr. Rod Barton MLC for the Eastern Metropolitan Region, who championed our cause in the Legislative Council, advocating on our be-half and introducing amendments to the proposed Bill. Without his advocacy the proposed changes may have passed into law, weakening the consumer protections that are so much part of our professional practice.
We are also very grateful for the overwhelming support and encouragement we received from our members and from our colleagues in the building and construction industry. We have all recognised that although some provisions in the Bill deserved strong support, other provisions weakened our professional standards and diminished our capacity to contribute to our cities and communities, and therefore could not be supported.