AGY-4726 | Electrical Contractors Licensing Board (1925-1927) / Electrical Contractors and Electricians Licensing Board (1927-1935)

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The Electrical Contractors Licensing Act (No.47, 1924), which took effect from 1 January 1925, provided for the registration of electrical contractors and established the Electrical Contractors Licensing Board to administer the system of registration including the issue, suspension and cancellation of licenses and the holding of examinations.(1) The Electrical Contractors Licensing Board was a body corporate and consisted of five members including a President appointed by the Governor, one member elected by the public electricity supplying bodies in New South Wales, one member elected by the Fire Underwriters Association, one member elected by the Local Government Association and of the Shires Association at a joint sitting, and one member who is a licensed electrical contractor elected by electrical contractors licensed under the Act.(2) The Electrical Contractors Licensing (Electricians) Amendment Act (No.5, 1927) provided for the registration of electricians as well as electrical contractors. It renamed the Principal Act the "Electrical Contractors and Electricians Licensing Act, 1924" and reconstituted the Board as the Electrical Contractors and Electricians Licensing Board.(3) The new Board was expanded to seven members with the Local Government and Shires’ member being replaced by a member elected by the Electrical Trades Union of Australia (New South Wales Branch), and two members who are licensed electricians elected by their fellow licensed electricians.(4) The Electrical Contractors and Electricians Licensing (Further Amendment) Act (No.45, 1928) restored the Board to five members by eliminating the Electrical Trades Union member and one of the licensed electricians.(5) The Electrical Contractors and Electricians Licensing Board was dissolved by the Gas and Electricity Act (No.42, 1935) which repealed the 1924 Act and its amending legislation.(6) The registration of electrical contractors and electricians became subject to the Local Government Act (No.41, 1919), which was amended accordingly by the Gas and Electricity Act.(7) On 3 May 1935, responsibility for administering the system of registration became that of the Department of Public Works.(8) The performance of this function was facilitated, in June 1935, by the establishment of the Electrical Contractors and Electricians Licensing Committee within the Department of Public Works.(9) ENDNOTES
1. Electrical Contractors Licensing Act (No.47, 1924), s.6.
2. ibid., s.6.
3. Electrical Contractors Licensing (Electricians) Amendment Act (No.5, 1927), s.2.
4. loc. cit.
5. Electrical Contractors and Electricians Licensing (Further Amendment) Act (No.45, 1928), s.2.
6. Gas and Electricity Act (No.42, 1935), s.87(2).
7. ibid., s.88.
8. Department of Works and Local Government Report for the year ended 30 June 1936, p28, in the NSW Parliamentary Papers 1937-38, vol.3, p1172.
9. The Electrical Contractors and Electricians Licensing Committee was established by Ordinance No.73 under the Local Government Act 1919, NSW Government Gazette No.109, 7 June 1935, p2256, and the first members of the Committee were appointed in June 1935.(Department of Works and Local Government Report for the year ended 30 June 1936, p28, in the NSW Parliamentary Papers 1937-38, vol.3, p1172)