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Tradies portal a success in Northern Rivers

Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Matt Kean checks out Rebuild Assist

Minister for Better Regulation Matt Kean has announced enhancements to the Rebuild Assist web portal that links consumers with licenced, insured tradespeople, after a successful pilot in Northern NSW.

Rebuild Assist (www.rebuildassist.nsw.gov.au) is a one-stop-shop where people can easily find qualified and insured builders and tradespeople for a range of building work, as well as useful information for property owners.

Mr Kean launched Rebuild Assist in the Northern Rivers in April to help flood-affected communities get back on their feet after Tropical Cyclone Debbie.

“We wanted to give people a trusted resource to find reliable, local tradespeople while protecting them from potentially dodgy operators,” Mr Kean said.

“Every licenced builder and tradesperson in the disaster area and surrounding regions has a publicly available profile on Rebuild Assist that lists their licences and insurance.

“Since the announcement of the Rebuild Assist pilot, our focus has been contacting and providing logins for hundreds of contractors in the Northern Rivers region.

“I am pleased to report that more than 1200 licenced builders and tradespeople have logged in to their profiles onRebuild Assist.

“This figure is growing every day, and thanks to the success of the pilot in the Ballina, Byron, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed Shire LGAs, we are now starting to expand the web portal to other parts of NSW,” he said.

Word of mouth has driven people to Rebuild Assist and visits have been rising steadily, with more than 1000 individual visits to the web portal, to date.

Mr Kean said there have been a number of enhancements to the portal, including new functionality that allows builders and tradespeople to enrol and update their own profiles online.

They can now also add their other licences to their profile, including asbestos demolition, assessment and removal. In another improvement, contractors who have updated their profiles appear at the top of search results, incentivising others to do the same so consumers know they are getting the most accurate information.