Media Release

Handyman to Become a Trade Qualification

The Department of Building and Construction is pleased to announce the latest addition to the list of qualified trades.

For many years the occupation of Handyman has been unregulated in Australia, but from 1 July 2016 it will begin its transition to a qualified trade.

The addition of the Handyman trade will provide further opportunities for workers seeking a qualification, and will also provide homeowners with more confidence when hiring a Handyman.

New Apprentices

From 1 July 2016 the Handyman Apprenticeship will be available to all Australians.

The apprenticeship will run over three (3) years and will include a TAFE component as per other apprenticeships for qualified trades.

Existing Handymen

The Department of Building and Construction (DBC) consulted widely with handymen across Australia before implementing the new structure.

It was important to ensure anyone already operating as a Handyman was not adversely impacted upon by these changes.

For this reason, anyone operating as a Handyman as at the launch date (1 July 2016) will be exempt from needing to become trade qualified.

For those who do wish to become trade qualified, there will be a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) scheme put in place to allow for a straightforward qualification.

The RPL process will be open to existing Handymen until 1 July 2019, which is when the first apprentice Handymen will complete their training.

It is expected that the name Handyman will be replaced by Handyperson prior to 2020 as part of the Government's gender equality program.

Comments

Head of the DBC, Jaqueline Harmer, believes the introduction of Handyman to the ranks of qualified tradespeople will be a win-win.

"Handymen have been providing an outstanding service to homeowners across Australia for many, many years.

Most handymen are fantastic at what they do, and would consider themselves to be no less skilled than other trades such as electricians and plumbers.

By giving handymen the ability to become qualified tradespeople we will be giving them additional opportunities to grow their businesses and help the economy."

For more information please contact the DBC.

Available for release: 1 April 2016