Lighting Council Australia Illuminates the Way

Lighting Council Australia Illuminates the Way

Lighting Council Australia’s goal is to encourage the use of appropriately designed and manufactured, high-quality lighting systems. As the peak body for Australia’s lighting industry, Lighting Council Australia exercises its considerable influence by advocating electrically-safe, energy efficient, low-environmental-impact lighting. Lighting Council is a powerful advocate of the Australian lighting industry, representing the industry to policymakers and key stakeholders. The Council’s scope encompasses the commercial, outdoor, industrial and residential sectors of the industry.

Lighting Council Australia was formed in 2001 to represent Australia’s strong, united, and ethical lighting industry. It evolved from the Australian Lighting Industry Forum, a grouping within the former Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association. In November 2007 the Council incorporated and now operates independently as Lighting Council Australia Limited, a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee and based in Canberra.

The Roles and Goals of Lighting Council Australia in Today’s Industry

Membership of Lighting Council Australia is exclusive to companies that adhere to a Code of Conduct. The focus of the Code is to ensure that members supply products that comply with Australia’s regulatory requirements (including electrical safety, energy efficiency and electro-magnetic compatibility.) The Code also requires members to carry out the highest standard of ethics in their business dealings.

Lighting Council Australia works closely with regulators to ensure that legislation and regulatory requirements affecting the lighting industry are appropriate for Australia. The Council is highly active in the area of lighting standardisation, both within Australia and internationally.

Lighting Council Australia organizes quarterly meetings, inviting the CEOs of its member companies to provide policy direction at a high level. In addition it operates four standing sub-industry committees to ensure sectoral interests within the industry have their individual needs met. These sub-industry groups are: Lamps; Solid State Lighting; Emergency Lighting; and Lighting Controls.

Lighting Council Australia is a Board member of the Global Lighting Association and chairs the GLA’s Environment Committee.

Industry Developments

By far the most significant industry development in recent years is the widespread adoption of solid state lighting, or LED lighting, replacing traditional incandescent and discharge lamps in a wide variety of applications. LED lights have many benefits, including increased durability, longevity and energy efficiency compared to their traditional counterparts.

However, while there are some excellent LED products available, the proliferation of manufacturers, the immaturity of international standards and the complexity of the technology combine to pose significant quality problems for the uninformed buyer.

Lighting Council Australia is addressing LED quality problems by introducing a certification scheme to assist buyers in making informed choices about LEDs.

Current legislation

In the inexorable drive to save energy, governments around the world are legislating to increase the energy efficiency of lighting. The Australian Government is one of the most aggressive of these. Australia was the first country in the developed world to phase-out incandescent GLS lamps. More recently the Government phased-out 50 W halogen lamps. We expect that minimum performance standards will be introduced for LED products in Australia over the next 12 to 18 months.

Benefits of membership

Lighting Council Australia enables lighting manufacturers and suppliers to be at the forefront of legislative, regulatory and technical standards developments. By having advance notice of the rapidly evolving regulatory changes affecting lighting, our members are able to position themselves in the marketplace to take advantage of the changes and not be adversely affected by them. Members receive regular news updates through formal meetings, newsletters and emails. Members are able to save significant EMC testing costs by joining a scheme administered by Lighting Council. Only members may join Lighting Council’s Solid State Lighting Quality Scheme – a certification scheme for LED products.

Share
Share
Author
Executives
Russell Loane