Decent housing is the foundation of a good life. The Building Better Homes campaign supports ensuring that everyone in Australia can benefit from a decent home, including people with disability. This means making housing abundant, affordable, and accessible.
The 2022 National Construction Code (NCC) introduced standards for livable housing that help to future-proof our housing stock: making it easier for more occupants to use, and easier to adapt or retrofit as needs change over time. New homes built today will last for decades, so it is essential that they are built right from the start.
The NCC has previously been reviewed and updated every three years. The government has now announced that the process for updating the NCC will slow down, with further changes paused until 2029 following scheduled updates for 2025. Despite this, it remains essential that every jurisdiction commits to the livable housing provisions already in the 2022 NCC. At present, all jurisdictions have done this other than NSW and WA.
We cannot solve the housing crisis by building worse homes that don’t meet the needs of community members now, or, as our population ages, into the future. It is a false economy to build homes that may be cheaper but result in higher costs for individuals, for our health system, and for our aged care system. The most efficient approach in residential construction is to make sure that homes are suitable for a range of needs and won’t require expensive and labour-intensive retrofits to ensure they remain fit for purpose. The livability provisions in the 2022 NCC help to achieve this.
We cannot solve the housing crisis by building worse homes that don’t meet the needs of community members now, or, as our population ages, into the future. It is a false economy to build homes that may be cheaper but result in higher costs for individuals, for our health system, and for our aged care system. The most efficient approach in residential construction is to make sure that homes are suitable for a range of needs and won’t require expensive and labour-intensive retrofits to ensure they remain fit for purpose. The livability provisions in the 2022 NCC help to achieve this.
With around one in five people living with a disability, and a growing number of older Australians, these are steps that benefit a wide range of people: our neighbours, our family members, and our loved ones.