12th May 2021, 12:44 PM – Senate Mutual Recognition Amendment Bill 2021 - Third Reading - Pass the bill

The majority voted in favour of reading the bill for a third time. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to pass the bill in the Senate. This means that the bill will now be sent back to the House of Representatives for them to decide whether they agree with the Senate amendments. If they do agree, the bill will become law.

What is the main idea of the bill?

According to the bill homepage, the bill was introduced to:

• introduce a uniform scheme of automatic mutual recognition (AMR) by enabling an individual who is registered for an occupation in their home state to carry on those activities in other states and territories;
• enable a state minister to exempt a registration in their state from being subject to AMR for a renewable period of up to five years because of a significant risk to consumer protection, the environment, animal welfare or the health or safety of workers or the public; and
• enable a state minister to exempt a registration in their state for a temporary period of six months after commencement of the Act, with an option to extend for a further period to 30 June 2022 if needed.