Following April’s historic decision by a majority of Building Ministers to incorporate mandatory minimum accessibility standards into the National Construction Code (NCC), it is now up to each state and territory to adopt the new NCC.
So far Victoria, Queensland, ACT, NT and Tasmania have agreed to do so, while NSW, Western Australia and South Australia have declared that they will opt-out.
This would be a terrible outcome for people with disability and leave millions of people continuing to face exclusion every day. It is also a clear rejection of the recommendations of the Aged Care Royal Commission, which argued strongly for a national approach to improving housing supply.
The campaign is now focused on shifting the positions in these jurisdictions – starting with NSW. This includes stakeholder engagement and mobilisation of our partners in NSW, an online campaign and lobbying of government, opposition and minor parties in NSW. We have until 17 December to change their minds. If you would like to support the campaign, please email: campaign@buildingbetterhomes.org.au