Murray Regional Tourism, Moama Bowling Club, Morrisons chef Troy Jarrett and local student Hannah Quinn were among those who shared with NSW commissioner James McTavish and Victoria commissioner Luke Wilson.
Organised by Committee for Echuca Moama (C4EM), the forum aimed to build understanding of the impact, cost and practicality of cross border anomalies relating to RSAs.
The certification is required to work in the food and hospitality sector but has become a headache to individuals and businesses alike, as locals need to secure separate RSAs to work in both Victoria and New South Wales.
Victorian cross border commissioner Luke Wilson admitted differences in legislation between the states made separate RSAs necessary.
However he said the forum offered a valuable opportunity for locals and legislators to work together to identify potential solutions to streamline the certification.
“There are always little differences in the legislation in each state, so there's always a slice, an add-on that you do need to pick up,” he said.
“But there's a very common basis. And both regulators have recently improved that ability to take one to the other state in both directions.
“So it's not the same as a driver's licence where one's enough, but we are moving quite a bit closer to that.”
Mr Wilson said the additional costs – both in time and money – of securing two RSAs presented a challenge.
“That's where things like online delivery or getting people from different businesses or lines of work to jointly organise training would streamline it a little more,” he said.
“That’s been a really good conversation that’s come from today.”
Mr Wilson said another potential next step would be a collaborative approach between states to writing RSA documentation.
“On the border you often have to navigate through two websites or two sets of documents the agencies put out,” he said.
“Sometimes you get different language, different terms – so one of the things acknowledged today is for agencies to get together and write single co-branded pieces of advice.”
C4EM chief executive Nina O’Brien said the forum was an excellent first step in further discussions with both cross border commissioners on local issues.
“RSAs seem quite simple on the surface but are actually incredibly complex," she said.
“So today was about bringing government representatives, community representatives and industry professionals into the one room to share their experiences.”
