Professional Engineering

Richard Spencer’s letter on the status of professional engineering in Australia does not give the whole picture of engineers “Down Under”. Engineers in Queensland alone have to be registered as Professional Engineers with a State Government Board, and have the dubious advantage of adding the post nominals, RPEQ (Registered Professional Engineer Queensland). It is a requirement in Queensland that engineering designs and similar are signed off by a Registered Professional Engineer (RPEQ). This is not much different to other states, where an appropriate member of the Institution of Engineers forms a similar function. In cases of negligence and similar breaches of professional duty, the Board can suspend engineers and also levy fines.

The engineering profession in Australia is regulated by the Institution of Engineers Australia, which has a College system of individual classifications: mechanical, civil etc. In practice it is a similar body to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and other similar institutions, in terms of its charter and governance, and can and does sanction engineers from time to time, but probably does so rarely, if annual reports are a guide. Similarly to the Queensland Registration Board, and other professions with which I am familiar, Engineers Australia requires demonstration through CPD’s of the maintenance of professional knowledge and capability. Western Australia is currently considering invoking similar Professional Engineering legislation to that of Queensland, and it is possible that other states will eventually follow suit, although I doubt that I will live to see a fully integrated national system.

Unfortunately, the impact of all of this on enhancing the status of professional engineers within Australia will be of little import in my view. The debate on status has been going on since at least the mid sixties when I joined the Institution, and will probably continue ad infinitum. Perhaps the answer on the status of engineers, if indeed there is one, lies in less consideration of the perceived lack of status and a greater focus on the opportunities which engineers presently enjoy. The Governor of Western Australia is an eminent engineer, who practiced the profession prior to taking up his present post. Being an engineer was sufficient for his recognition for one of the highest posts in Australia. Although I am qualified in law, I still consider myself to be first and foremost an engineer, since this governs my thought processes, and perhaps more pertinently it still provides the opportunity to practice a profession which I enjoy. Status of itself is a poor comparator of contribution to the broader community, and whinging is its own reward.