South Australia

How is South Australia monitoring the Livable Housing Australia Standards?

National Construction Code (NCC) Accessible Housing requirements for residential dwellings is mandatory in South Australia as of 1 October 2024.

However, the South Australian Government has introduced a number of exemptions and concessions to the Livable Housing Design Standard for:

• Allotments having a frontage of less than or equal to 10 metres, or irregular allotments with an area of less than 300m2 will not be required to comply with Livable Housing Design provisions.
• An exemption from the Livable Housing Designs provisions for small buildings less than or equal to 60m2 that are built offsite, and workers and tourist accommodation.
• An exemption from installing a toilet on the entry level where there are no habitable rooms located on that level.
• Any development application for a house or apartment that has been lodged prior to 1 October 2024 will be considered under NCC 2019.
• Applications for building rules consent submitted prior to 1 January 2027, on allotments for which a development application for land division had been lodged prior to 1 January 2024 can be considered under NCC 2019.

The South Australian Government has also committed to an extended transition period in which there will be no further changes to the National Construction Code for the next decade.

The Building Better Homes Campaign and a collective of South Australian organisations and allies (Purple Orange, SACOSS, Australian Institute of Architects, The Australian Centre for Social Innovation, Council of the Ageing SA, Uniting Communities and Novita) have expressed deep concern that the exemptions will undermine the intentions of the NCC 2022 and slow the building of accessible homes built in the State.

We urge the South Australian government to remove these exemptions and enact the Livable Design Standards in full.

The Building Better Campaign also supports JFA Purple Orange’s 2024/2025 State Budget Submission calling for the South Australian Government to support its implementation through a funded ‘best practice’ campaign to assist the housing industry through this important change.

The Building Better Homes campaign and JFA Purple Orange are also seeking information about how exemptions will be monitored and reported in South Australia.

What to do next?

Email the Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Housing Infrastructure and Planning and let them know:

• you support the government’s enactment of the Livable Housing Design standards to make sure there are more accessible houses in South Australia
• accessible housing must be developed without any exemptions or concessions
• monitoring is needed to make sure houses are being built to the Standards