ABSA / Green Loans Assessors Testimony Green Loans Senate Inquiry

ABSA & Green Loans Assessors give testimony at the Green Loans Senate Inquiry on the 29th June 2010.

This blog post is a copy of a recent ABSA newsletter and is supplied for information purposes only.

The Green Loans Program was a great initiative which was damaged by hasty implementation, short cuts, ill-defined roles and ad hoc changes, the Association of Building Sustainability Assessors (ABSA) told a Senate committee on Tuesday 29thJune.

ABSA Chairman, Wayne Floyd, told the Senate Environment, Communications and The Arts References Committee, sitting in Sydney, that ABSA signed a protocol with the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) in February 2009 to provide services as an Assessor Accrediting Organisation.

However, problems soon arose because of ad hoc changes to the scheme and because DEWHA had failed to meet its commitments to appoint an auditor, manage numbers, provide Continuing Professional Development and ensure the training course for assessors was properly accredited.

In February 2010, the then Minister responsible, Peter Garrett, announced a cap of 5,000 assessors after numbers blew out. The Minister now responsible, Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, is yet to announce how the cap will be implemented.

Also presenting evidence were a number of contracted and uncontracted assessors, representatives from The Australian Bankers Association (ABA), Abacus Mutual (representing credit unions and building societies), Fieldforce Services and senior representatives from the Department.

A transcript of the hearing can be read by following this link. It should be noted that this is the preliminary version and may change in line with standard Parliamentary Hansard procedures.

Information is edited / supplied by GLP Assessor at http://glpassessor.blogspot.com.

ABSA Member Update 10th March

An exert taken from ABSA's member update, dated 10 March.

ABSA Welcomes New Era Of Engagement With The Government.

Today ABSA's CEO and Chairman met with Senator Wong, in her capacity as the Minister responsible for the Green Loans Program following changes to Ministerial responsibility announced recently by the Prime Minister.

"We appreciate the time taken by Senator Wong to meet with us on an extremely busy day in the Senate and the recognition in her Ministerial statement, delivered immediately before her meeting with ABSA, of the planned departmental actions to address some of the shortcomings of the scheme," Mr Wayne Floyd, ABSA Chairman said.

Present at the meeting were Senator Wong, her adviser and several senior public servants from the new Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. ABSA welcomed the opportunity to speak openly and directly to the Minister.

Given the short time frames we were immediately offered a second meeting, scheduled for next Tuesday.

"In this next meeting we are looking forward to a new era of cooperation between ABSA and the Federal Government and continuing discussions with the Minister," Mr Floyd said.

We agreed that there are no quick solutions. ABSA is looking for long term outcomes which help to both establish a solid industry for our members and improve residential sustainability. ABSA has submitted to Senator Wong immediate and longer term proposals which would be of benefit to our members, the Government, industry and the environment.

It has been a frustrating few weeks for ABSA and our members, as unanticipated changes to the Green Loans Scheme and then Ministerial changes have delayed our ability to get meaningful answers about the future of the scheme.

ABSA appreciates that any major changes to the program may take some time to plan and implement but we were encouraged by the tone of today's brief discussion.

Alison Carmichael, CEO.

Wayne Floyd, Chair.

ABSA Member Update 4th March

An exert taken from the ASBA's member update, dated 4th March.

ABSA, has been able to secure a meeting with Senator Wong's office next Wednesday. As you know there has been a transfer of responsibility for Green Loans from Minister Garrett to Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, ABSA Chairman, Wayne Floyd and CEO Alison Carmichael, and ABSA's adviser, Australian Public Affairs, will attend the meeting in Canberra.

It has been a frustrating few weeks both for ABSA and for our members, as unanticipated changes to the Green Loans Scheme and then Ministerial changes have delayed our ability to get some meaningful answers to our members about the future of the scheme and move forward.

Senator Wong's office responded very quickly to our request and we will be seeking answers to questions previously raised with Minister Garrett and DEWHA and how the recently announced changes will affect members in the short and long term and proposing ways in which ABSA can work with her department to provide some certainty for the future.

In addition, ABSA has been in regular contact with other senior politicians, including Opposition Environment spokesman, Greg Hunt, and Greens Senator Christine Milne, to keep them up to date with issues.

Meanwhile ABSA has been engaged in a number of other initiatives:

* A number of members have asked us to make representations to Government that HSAS assessors be afforded the same Centrelink package as has been promised to home insulation installers. ABSA will initiate discussions with Minister Wong. However, it should be noted that on previous occasions when ABSA has raised this with DEWHA, they have informed us that unlike home insulation, Green Loans was never part of the economic stimulus/job creation package and that no guarantees of employment were ever made. In fact this was an express term of the DEWHA contract with individual assessors – see clause 3.2: "No guarantee of work".

* In the light of turmoil in the Green Loans Scheme, ABSA is developing a HSAS refunds policy to address the changes to the program. However, it is not practical to announce this policy until we have met with Minister Wong's office and we are certain that there will not be further changes to the Scheme and the policy itself.

* After waiting for the Continuing Professional Development modules promised by DEWHA many months ago, ABSA now has three staff members working full time on developing its own CPD structure and content. Significant membership funds are being committed to developing and implementing these modules.

* As a result of questions raised at the AGM about our disciplinary process, as stated in our Constitution, and Code of Practice matters raised by members, an ABSA Working Group is developing enhanced disciplinary processes to support the Code of Practice. This will be on the agenda for discussion at the first meeting of the HSAS and HERS Member Sub-committees which will meet later this month.

ABSA, through consultants Australian Public Affairs has been engaging with media, clarifying inaccuracies when necessary and communicating the position of our members and of ABSA.

ABSA Member Update 2nd March

An exert taken from the ASBA's member update, dated 2nd March.

ABSA Chairman Wayne Floyd and CEO Alison Carmichael met with Minister Garrett, his staff, DEWHA, Shadow Minister, Greg Hunt and Greens Senator Christine Milne on Wednesday, February 24.

At each meeting they tabled a brief on ABSA, on its role in the Green Loans program, the impacts of the recently announced changes to the program and potential solutions to problems arising from the changes.

The discussion with Minister Garrett and DEWHA was guided by a set of questions, available on the HSAS website under News tab.

ABSA put forward the concerns of members about the cap on assessor numbers and the limit on the number of assessments per day. This is having an adverse impact on many members who believed the scheme provided a viable business for the foreseeable future.

DEWHA would give no undertakings but did promise written answers to these by Friday. We all now know what happened on Friday. Minister Garrett was demoted and his energy efficiency portfolio was given to Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong and assistant Minister Greg Combet. We have yet to receive the answers but have been assured on Monday that they are coming.

ABSA is greatly concerned that these changes mean a further delay in finding solutions for its members and is now seeking an urgent meeting with the new Minister.

Early indications are that both Ministers Wong and Combet are going to spend some time being briefed on the issues before they start meeting with stakeholders.