A Win with Cost-Effective Access to Australian Standards

A major development in the industry announced just before Easter is that Standards Australia have agreed to provide trades, and presumably also professions, with all of the relevant standards that they will need for around $100. The Standards Australia media release is available on their website.

This is a positive step forward, and one which ACIF and its member associations are pleased with. It’s a win for the construction industry and the Australian public, which will benefit from a better and safer built environment. As around 100 standards are referenced in the National Construction Code, it is vital that they are available to construction practitioners at a cost-effective price-point.

A Victorian parliamentary inquiry is looking at whether laws need to be changed to better protect subcontractors from non-payment. The Legislative Assembly Environment and Planning Committee has launched an investigation into employers and contractors who do not pay their subcontractors for completed works, or pay them late. As part of the inquiry, the Committee is calling for submissions from relevant stakeholders.

I encourage you to lodge a submission.

Also in Victoria, the Andrews government is reconsidering a package of reforms to slash building industry regulation to boost the supply of houses. As ACIF wishes to see the recommendations of the Building Confidence Report implemented, deregulation is not always beneficial.

Also of note is that Victoria’s Planning Minister has given the go-ahead to an amended permit to demolish existing buildings and construct Australia’s tallest skyscraper, a $2 billion tower at Southbank.