Professional Engineers Regulation 2024 (ACT)

The Professional Engineers Regulation 2024 (ACT) addressed a dispute concerning the registration term for engineers who applied for registration before the commencement of the Professional Engineers Act 2023. The case was heard in the ACT Supreme Court. The central issue was the interpretation and application of Section 25(b)(ii) of the Act, which pertains to the registration term for individuals whose applications for registration were decided prior to the Act's commencement day.

The court had to determine whether Section 25(b)(ii) applied to engineers whose applications were processed before the Act came into effect. Specifically, the court needed to clarify whether such individuals would be subject to a fixed registration period of three years from the date of their registration decision, as per the regulation. The court also had to consider whether the expiry clause of the regulation, which states that the section expires three years after the commencement day, affected the ongoing validity of the registration term for those already registered.

In its decision, the court held that Section 25(b)(ii) did apply to engineers whose registration applications were decided before the commencement day of the Act. The court reasoned that the plain language of the regulation indicated that the three-year registration period would apply from the date the registrar decided to register the individual. The court further clarified that the expiry clause did not retroactively affect the registration term for those already registered. Therefore, the registration period for those individuals would be three years from the date of their registration decision.

The court ordered that the regulation be interpreted in accordance with its findings, ensuring that engineers registered before the commencement of the Act would have their registration terms calculated from the date of their registration decision. This decision provided clarity on the application of the regulation to pre-commencement applications and ensured consistency in the administration of engineer registrations under the new Act.