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Want to do your own home wiring and be legal? Repair appliances? Replace a power point or light fitting? YOU can help make it happen! You should know that all Australian states have legislation which effectively bans you from doing any home wiring (even temporarily undoing a power point of light switch to paint around it). In Queensland, the relevant legislation is the Electricity Act (1994) and the Electricity Regulation Act (1994). This is used to maintain a “closed shop” for electricians. It is not about main­taining safety for users or homeowners. In Queensland it can effectively stop anyone who is not a licensed electrician from working on any mains-powered appliance, including TVs, VCRs, computers, amateur radio equipment, vintage radios – any equip­ment powered from the 240VAC mains supply! Our campaign is appealing to parliamentarians in each state to direct their electrical licensing authority to: (a) remove any restrictions which may prevent people from working on mains-powered equipment, whether it is for the purpose of assembly, service, repair or restoration; (b) produce legislation which is based on the New Zealand Elec­tricity Act and Regulations, which allows householders to do their own “electrical work”, including appliance repairs and the installation of fixed wiring. See our website at www.siliconchip.com.au for more infor­mation on the relevant legislation. Electrical fatalities in Australia Electricians have generally opposed this campaign on the grounds of safety. This is not a problem in this country. In Australia, the overall fatalities are currently about 51 per annum or 2.7 persons per million. In Queensland, the state with the most restrictive regulations, the fatality rate is about 4 per million. By contrast, in the UK which allows homeowners to do wiring, the death rate is about 1 person per million. We’re not doing too well on the face of it. Just about all of the Australian fatalities each year are not due to homeowners doing wiring. Very few homeowners are electrocuted because they have modified or worked on electrical wiring. So the current restrictions against homeowners (and particularly electrical engineers) doing their own home wiring and working on electrical appliances and projects are completely unnecessary. You can do you bit to change the legislation by signing the “Statement of Will” in this issue and sending it to us. PLEASE DO IT NOW! Leo Simpson Send the completed forms to SILICON CHIP and we will forward them to the relevant state Ministers, along with copies of published correspondence, editorials, etc. The Ministers will be informed that their response, or a report that they apparently decided not to respond, will be published in SILICON CHIP! While in some ways similar to a petition, it must be our aim that it is not treated as a petition. If you have access to the Internet, go to http://www. rag.org.au/rag/petqld.htm and study the onerous requirements that must, by law, be observed in order to produce a petition that a state parliament will accept. Then click on Creative Petitioning at the bottom of the page to learn how easily parliaments can disregard petitions. Our state parliaments have refused to accept petitions that had many tens of thousands of signatures on them, simply because the form of the petition was not exactly correct. If you don’t have access to the Internet, suffice to say that conventional petitions to our state and federal parliaments are largely a waste of time. In addition to circulating the “Statement of Will” form, write an individual “MY WILL” letter, similar to the one below, to your local state member of parliament and encourage others to do the same. Don’t forget to date the letter and provide your name and address so the parliamentarian can confirm that you are a constituent. Dear Sir (or Dear Madam), I know that it is my duty to keep you informed of MY WILL on any matter that comes before Parliament, or that should come before Parliament. IT IS MY WILL that you take immediate action to end the “closed shop” that electricians enjoy in relation to “electrical work”, and that you promote the replacement of current electricity related legislation with legislation that is essentially equivalent to the New Zealand Electricity Act and Regulation, which allows householders to do their own “electrical work”, including appliance repairs and the installation of fixed wiring. Yours Faithfully, (signed) Above all, don’t enter into written argument with a politician. Politicians 30  Silicon Chip are masters in the art of avoiding what they don’t want to face up to, and become experts in manipulating words to their own benefit. Should your parliamentary member try to sidestep (and they are extremely adept at doing so) taking positive political action on your behalf (ie, they rattle on about what his/her party is or is not doing instead of agreeing to act in accordance with your WILL), you simply write back and state: Dear Sir (or Dear Madam), Further to my letter of (insert date of your original letter) and your reply of (insert date of their inadequate or fob-off reply), and in accordance with my lawful obligation to keep you informed of MY WILL, I again inform you that IT IS MY WILL that you take immediate action to end the “closed shop” that electricians enjoy in relation to “electrical work”, and that you promote the replacement of current electricity related legislation with legislation that is essentially equivalent to the New Zealand Electricity Act and Regulation, which allows householders to do their own “electrical work”, including appliance repairs and the installation of fixed wiring. Yours faithfully, (signed) If you have access to the internet, go to http://www.rag.org.au/rag/ mywillet.htm and learn about the background and potential power of the “MY WILL” letter. For each “MY WILL” letter you send to your parliamentary member, send a copy to SILICON CHIP so we can monitor the level of involvement in the campaign for reform. If your local parliamentarian shows interest in the issue, provide them with copies of relevant SILICON CHIP published correspondence and editorials, etc, or ask them to contact SILICON CHIP directly. Come on SILICON CHIP readers, you asked us to help you with this one – if you don’t want more and more restrictions, get those signatures rolling in! This information (including a copy of the "MY WILL" form) may also be downloaded from the SILICON CHIP website, www.siliconchip.com.au www.siliconchip.com.au Statement of Will: Reform of Electrical Legislation The primary responsibility of parliamentary representatives and governments is to do the will of the people. Electors must make their will known to their parliamentary representatives and governments. We, the undersigned, hereby assert that it is our will that the government of *_________________________________ acknowledge that current electrical safety legislation unjustifiably discriminates against ordinary householders as well as electrical and electronic engineers, technical officers, and technicians and that the effect of its enactment has been, and continues to be, to protect a monopoly for licensed electricians. We also hereby assert that it is our will that the government of *___________________________________ acknowledge that the potential dangers of “electrical work” are grossly exaggerated by the state electrical licensing boards and that the New Zealand electrical fatalities and accidents statistics belie these claims of dangers. We further assert that it is our will that the government of *_________________________________________ repeal, in a timely manner, all current electrical safety legislation to replace it with legislation that is essentially equivalent to the New Zealand Electricity Act and Regulation, which allows ordinary householders to do their own “electrical work”, including appliance repairs and the installation of fixed wiring. * (insert state or territory)     Name           Address    Signature  1. ........................................................................ .......................................................................................................................................... .............................................................  2. ........................................................................ .......................................................................................................................................... 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.......................................................................................................................................... ............................................................. www.siliconchip.com.au August 2001  31