Trader Check – a free, online one stop shop of information about traders – will put NSW consumers first and help businesses that do the right thing to compete.
Minister for Better Regulation Matt Kean said Trader Check was part of the NSW Government’s Better Business Reforms to empower consumers and make sure the economy is working for everyday people.
"This is great news for NSW consumers. This website will become the first port of call for anyone who needs to hire a tradie or buy from a business," Mr Kean said.
"We’re making it easier for consumers to check whether the tradie they’re hiring is fair dinkum before they let them into their homes and hand over their hard-earned cash.
"Trader Check will save consumers tens of millions of dollars by helping them avoid unlicensed traders who do defective, dodgy work that often needs expensive rectification."
Under the current system, consumers must search multiple websites to find the information they need about business histories and licensees, and not all information is made public.
"The current system is inconvenient and time consuming. That’s why we’re creating a one stop shop that brings all that data under one roof," Mr Kean said.
Once up and running, Trader Check will include:
- the names of the licence holders, licence numbers, classes or types and expiry dates;
- details of any surrender, cancellation or suspension of a licence;
- details of public warnings, disciplinary action, Penalty Infringement Notices and NCAT orders; and
- results of successful prosecutions against the licence holder under the Work Health and Safety Act, the Fair Trading Act or the Australian Consumer Law
Traders will have been able to seek a review of any Fair Trading decisions that are made publicly available in a court or tribunal.
The online register is part of the Better Business Reforms, the biggest shake up of NSW consumer law in more than three decades.
Minister Kean is introducing the Better Business Reforms, which also includes reforms to cut red tape and help small businesses compete, into Parliament later this month.
