VBA v Andriotis: Is interstate freedom of movement a threat to quality assurance in Australia’s construction industry?

Abstract

In Victorian Building Authority v Andriotis, the full bench of the High Court of Australia found unanimously that the Victorian registration authority was precluded from having regard to the "good character" requirements of the Victorian Building Act in deciding whether to allow a NSW-registered building practitioner to be registered in Victoria. This note acknowledges that this result is inevitable given the primacy of the (Commonwealth) mutual recognition principles over state-based regimes. However, the tendency of those principles to allow (indeed, to require) cross-state registration based upon less rigorous standards in the first state is of concern given current lack of confidence in ..