Commonwealth, State and Territory Building Ministers have met to consider options to increase Australia’s stock of accessible housing and progress with Building Confidence Reforms.
Reporting on the meeting the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources said the majority of Ministers agreed to include minimum accessibility provisions for residential housing and apartments in the National Construction Code (NCC) 2022 based on the Liveable Housing Design Guidelines (LHDG) silver standards.
The Department said the Ministers considered the findings of the Decision Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) prepared by the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) as well as stakeholder feedback.
“The decision taken by a majority of Ministers acknowledges the costs identified in the Decision RIS but reflects their assessment that a regulatory solution will result in significant and lasting benefit to Australians who need access to homes with accessible features,” the Department said.
“Ministers also agreed the ABCB will publish a voluntary gold technical standard for accessible housing,” it said.
The Department said each State and Territory would be free to determine whether, and how, the new provisions would be applied in their jurisdiction to minimise the regulatory impact on the construction sector.
It said the Ministers asked that senior building officials lead work with the ABCB to provide advice to support implementation and appropriate transition timeframes.
“This outcome supports the States and Territories with their responsibilities to increase the stock of accessible housing and provides flexibility for jurisdictions to implement in a way that best meets the needs of their communities,” the Department said.
