Border people who hold dual licences will benefit from automatic recognition of their qualifications, but professions such as teaching should be opt-in, according to a committee.
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The Automatic Mutual Recognition (AMR) scheme has been agreed to by all jurisdictions except for the ACT and is linked to a bill before the NSW parliament.
An Upper House committee examining the bill tabled its report last week, with committee chair Tara Moriarty noting "strong concern about the safety risks of AMR when applied to occupations that have differences in registration and licensing".
"The report calls on the government to conduct comprehensive, immediate and ongoing consultation with stakeholders across various trades and occupations which are not sufficiently harmonised, including electrical, teaching, mining, plumbing, medical gas, fire protection and building, maintenance and construction work, with the objective of an opt-in mechanism," she said.
The AMR scheme is intended to apply to all occupational registrations unless exempted by a state or territory minister.
The NSW Teachers Federation Branch is pushing for permanent exclusion of the teaching profession from the scheme, noting "there are memorandums of understanding for registration of teachers who work and live across border towns".
The Federation argued the scheme would create an administrative burden for Working With Children Check Clearance, but the scheme's ability to harmonise checks was raised by Albury MP Justin Clancy in parliament in April.
"For working with children's checks ... (there are) the cost of two fees to meet the one outcome," he said.
"Building trade licences are perhaps the most common source of problems.
"At our sporting clubs ... when the event involves service of alcohol, the club has to be careful the parent who so helpfully volunteers has the qualification appropriate to the state where the game takes place.
"A NSW-registered plumber would save at least $357 over three years in registration fees (through the scheme) to work in a nearby border city such as Wodonga."
NSW Cross-Border Commissioner James McTavish raised with the Upper House committee that the requirement to hold dual registration was a disincentive to relocating to border towns.
"We have an obligation, I think, as government to be making it easier for people to do business," he said.
In 2020, PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated that AMR could lead to additional economic activity of around $2.4 billion over 10 years.
