What the border changes for a tradie

There are about four kilometres between the middle of Albury and the middle of Wodonga. There are two separate licensing systems.

That is the single most misunderstood thing about hiring a trade on this border, and it produces the same conversation on both sides of the river every week. A customer books someone. The job goes wrong. The insurer or the tribunal asks which licence the work was done under, and nobody has a clean answer.

The rule, stated plainly

The licence that matters is the one that applies where the work is performed. Not where the business is registered, not where the ute is garaged, not which state the ABN address says.

A plumber based in Wodonga doing a hot water replacement in Lavington is doing New South Wales work. A builder in Jindera putting up a shed in Barnawartha is doing Victorian work. The address on the invoice does not change that.

Automatic Mutual Recognition

Since 2021 a licence holder in one state can generally work in another on the strength of their home licence, after notifying the second state's regulator, without paying a second licence fee. This is Automatic Mutual Recognition and it made the border much easier to work across than it used to be.

It did not make the border disappear. Three things are worth knowing:

• It does not cover every occupation. Some classes are excluded, and the exclusion lists differ between states.
• Notification is not optional. The scheme requires the person to notify the second state before working there. A licence holder who has not notified is not covered by it.
• Local rules still apply. Building permits, plumbing compliance certificates, inspection regimes and the paperwork that goes with them are set by the state the work is in. Recognition of the licence does not import the home state's process.

What to ask

One question does most of the work: which licence are you working under for this job, and can I have the number?

A business that works both sides will have an answer immediately, because they field it constantly. If the answer is vague, that is the signal, not the licence number itself.

Then check it. The licence check tool goes straight to the correct register for each state.

Why we model service area separately

Every listing on this site stores where a business is based and where it works as two different things. That is the whole reason a Wodonga operator shows up on Lavington pages, and it is also why every one of those listings carries a note saying whether the service area was stated by the business or estimated from distance.

The distinction matters here more than anywhere else in the country. "They are close enough to come" and "they are licensed to do this here" are different claims, and a directory that blurs them is not helping anyone.

More on the specifics in the guide on NSW and VIC licence rules, and on hiring a tradie on the border.