The Department of Natural Resources and Environment sought feedback on proposed amendments to the Surveyors Act 2002 (the Act). The Act provides for the registration of surveyors with diverse specialist competencies; the regulation of the practice of registered surveyors engaged in surveys authorised or required under any Act, and other related matters.
Aim of the Review
The aim of the review is to consider amendments to improve the effectiveness of the Act in ensuring surveys of legal interests in real property meet community requirements. It is concerned with two issues, the first being the level of supervision that must be exercised by a registered land surveyor over non-registered person undertaking a survey of land, whilst the second deals with the publication of disciplinary outcomes imposed by the Director of Consumer Affairs.
Issues Paper
An issues paper was prepared that outlined why amendments are required to address the above issues, proposed amendment options for both and provided an oppurtunity to comment on the options.
Surveyors Act 2002 Amendments Issues Paper (PDF 516Kb)
Current Status of Amendments
A Department response with recommendations for amendments to the Act was prepared, Cabinet approval to amend the Act obtained and the Surveyors Amendment Bill 2023 was brought to Parliament on 19 October 2023.
During the preperation of the Department response it was determined that it was appropriate to utilise the Bill to provide for the postponement of the repeal date of the Surveyors Regulations 2014, which are due to be repealed automatically on 10 December 2024 as a consequence of section 11(2) of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1992 . The Bill provides for the repeal date to be extended to 10 December 2026 if required to ensure consideration of a current national initiative adressing the competency and accredition of land surveyors is possible during the review of the regulations.