CFMEU welcomes ACT's Australia-first developer licensing bill

Canberrans will be protected from shonky developers' unethical behaviour under laws to be introduced to the ACT legislative assembly today.

The CFMEU has campaigned for a developer licensing scheme for several years.

Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction Rebecca Vassarotti will introduce legislation to the assembly which will mean:

* Developers need to pass a fit and proper person test to be licensed

* Developers who do the wrong thing can be banned from holding a licence or face fines if they don’t fix problems

CFMEU ACT and National Secretary Zach Smith said the new laws would protect Canberrans.

"This bill is a massive step forward in ensuring Canberrans aren't taken advantage of by shonky developers," he said.

"This Australia-first developer licensing scheme will save lives on ACT worksites by cracking down on dodgy operators.

"Developer licensing schemes like this should be in place all over Australia.

"Polling showed us the huge level of support for developer licensing in the ACT and there's no reason to think that wouldn't be replicated around the country.

"The CFMEU urges all other federal, state and territory governments to get cracking on protecting people from dodgy developers."