The new pathway is designed to help address the skills shortages, particularly in regional Australia - while maintaining Australia's safety standards.
The scheme will be trialled for 12 months, with a review at the 6-month mark, to allow us to closely monitor outcomes and ensure the reforms are meeting the key objective of alleviating skilled labour shortages, particularly in regional areas.
The new pathway expands Australia's ability to readily recognise overseas qualifications. Engineers from other countries retain the ability to get an Australian licence through an established recognition of prior learning assessment process.
The scheme will come into effect on 3 July and follows extensive consultation.
Feedback from the consultation means we will limit the initial trial to the recognition of qualifications from only the United Kingdom and the United States. This will enable us to focus on countries which have a large general aviation sector and workforce.
During the trial period we will gather data on the effectiveness and impact of the initiative. This will inform a future decision on continuation and expansion of the scheme.
