The Victorian Government has commenced a review of the Professional Engineers Registration Act (PERA) with submissions closing on July 25, 2025.
The terms of reference for the review are quite broad and include the following:
> The current scope of engineering services captured under the PERA;
> The qualifications, registration and eligibility requirements under the PERA, including the pathways for registration;
> The requirements for assessment entities and assessment schemes, including the fee structure for these entities;
> The numbers of professional engineers operating in Victoria compared with the numbers registered under the PERA;
> The compliance and enforcement framework under the PERA; and
> The clarity of guidance material issued by Consumer Affairs Victoria.
HVIA has always advocated that the legislation is deeply flawed, the guidance provided by the Department is inadequate, and that regulation of the heavy vehicle industry should be national, not state-based.
The industry association will make a submission that will be guided by member views, and will hold a webinar on Tuesday, July 15 at 1:00pm (AEST) to provide a direct opportunity for members to provide feedback.
HVIA will again likely advocate for the heavy vehicle industry to be excluded from the scope of the Act.
Individual members will be invited by email, however, if you would like to register your interest, please do so by emailing Greg Forbes at g.forbes@hvia.asn.au.
Background Information
The Professional Engineers Registration Act 2019 (PERA) was intended to “ensure that relevant engineers meet established professional and ethical standards, contributing to the safety and wellbeing of Victorians and their trust in the infrastructure around them”.
The initial focus of the legislation was on engineers engaged in the building industry, who were the target of the first phase of the rollout in 2021. The requirements for registration were progressively expanded with registration for mechanical engineers becoming compulsory on December 1, 2024.
The legislation is intended to apply to professional engineers who are not working under direct supervision, or those following prescriptive standards.
The Department provided some guidance material on the scope of the Act, but HVIA members have expressed their frustration over the lack of clarity on the guidance material provided.
“When HVIA pressed Consumer Affairs to provide clarification on real-world issues such as the definition of prescriptive standards, the response was that Consumer Affairs’ officers were not able to provide legal advice and the application of the law to a particular engineers’ work would depend on a legal determination based on the scope of work undertaken,” HVIA Transport Policy and Legislation Adviser, Greg Forbes, says.
“The only useful clarification we received was that for the purposes of determining the scope of the extraterritoriality provisions, a registered motor vehicle would be considered a ‘generic product’, and engineering work related to that product is not within the scope of the legislation.”
The heavy vehicle industry is already thoroughly regulated and HVIA’s view is that this legislation is simply another costly bureaucratic impost on the industry that adds no value.