Recommendation 7.35 – Increase availability and supply of accessible housing for people with disability through the National Construction Code

Australian Capital Territory

Response: Accept in Principle
Status: In progress

What has been achieved to date

The ACT Government has implemented section a) and b) of this recommendation through existing building codes. 

Through the implementation of the ACT Disability Justice Strategy, CSD has committed to fund Toora Women Inc. to undertake access review of a number of their existing crisis accommodation properties. The access review will measure:

• Physical access - mobility
• Sensory - vision, hearing, textures/surfaces
• Wayfinding - common areas
• Dignified access

The review will include a report of recommendations.

ACT government response July 2024

The ACT Government has already implemented part a) and part b) of this recommendation. The ACT Government also aims to construct social housing dwellings to a Class C adaptable, or Liveable Housing Australia gold standard where possible to increase accessibility in the portfolio. 

The ACT Government is working to support front line responding agencies to develop Disability Action and Inclusion Plans (DAIPs) including, but not limited to, domestic and family violence shelters and refuges. Development of a Disability Action and Inclusion Plan in these environments is inclusive of disability access audits. Access audits and Disability Action and Inclusion Plans will assist the ACT Government to establish availability and need, to then determine actions and targets.

New South Wales

Response: Subject to further consideration
Status: Subject to further consideration

What has been achieved to date

Consultation is underway with targeted stakeholder groups to best understand opportunities and barriers that may be associated with the adoption of the liveable housing design standards. The NSW Government will consider feedback in due course.

The Building Commission NSW is assessing the potential impact of adoption of accessible housing provisions through the NCC and has published a Discussion Paper titled ‘Liveable Housing Requirements in NSW’. On 20 February 2025, the NSW Building Commissioner hosted a Liveable Housing Stakeholder Roundtable with stakeholders from the industry, disability and ageing sectors. Homes NSW contributed to this event and attended as a keynote speaker on the day

For social housing construction, Homes NSW implements the access requirements set out in the 2023 Land and Housing Corporation Design Requirements which provide a higher level of access than required by the Silver level in the National Construction Code.

In October 2024, the NSW Government’s Disaster Welfare Services co-hosted a forum for emergency agencies and disability stakeholders with support from the NSW Ageing and Disability Commission and the Premier’s Department.

The forum was designed to share feedback and support renewed plans for preparedness, response and recovery from disasters. A key action from the forum was that Disaster Welfare will lead the development of a cross-agency work plan to improve support for people with disability in all phases of a disaster.

NSW government response July 2024

The NSW Government remains committed to ensuring NSW delivers quality, affordable and trustworthy homes to meet NSW’s housing needs.

The Government is continuing to work with other jurisdictions to understand the impact of the new accessible housing provisions on the delivery of affordable and accessible homes in other States to determine how it could impact the NSW’s delivery of affordable homes.

7.35(b) social housing construction

• Design requirements for social housing stipulate a minimum Silver Level (of the Livable Housing Design Guidelines) for new ground level and lift-accessible properties and Silver Standard interiors for new dwellings where lifts are not available.
• Where possible, Homes NSW builds a proportion of social homes to Livable Housing Design Guidelines Gold performance level with some Platinum level features.
• When designing and planning for new social homes, Homes NSW also considers how close they are to shops and essential services, and how easy it will be for people to get around their neighbourhood.
• On average, over 2,280 properties are modified every year, supporting public housing tenants to live independently and safely in their homes.
• As of 31 March 2023, the Social & Affordable Housing Fund has delivered 2,983 (of 3,089) homes that meet the requirements of the Liveable Housing Australia silver standard.

7.35 (c) Disaster Welfare

The NSW Government provides shelter for people evacuated during emergencies through evacuation centres and commercially arranged emergency accommodation. Every effort is made to provide for the needs of all people who require shelter and emergency accommodation including triaging the needs of people with disability and offering priority placement in appropriately facilitated commercial accommodation. Evacuation centres are regularly audited to ensure they are fit for purpose and accessible to the public in emergencies. All people are encouraged to develop their own emergency plans including when to go early and where they may go if forced to evacuate.

Northern Territory

Response: Accept in principle
Status: In progress

What has been achieved to date

The Northern Territory Department of Logistics and Infrastructure community housing program meets the current planning standards and collaborates with client agencies to develop infrastructure solutions that increase availability of supply, and where appropriate, exceed the requirements of the National Construction Code (NCC).

The engagement of an access consultant for Major Works projects (and other Minor Works projects where appropriate) ensures consideration is given to the inclusion of best practice accessibility solutions under the requirements of the NCC.

NT government response July 2024

Since 1 October 2023, all applications for building permits for new homes in the Northern Territory have been required to comply with the National Construction Code liveable housing requirements. New urban and social housing designs have been developed which meet or exceed the National Construction Code accessibility standards. The Northern Territory Government will consider accessibility standards as part of construction of any new or refurbished crisis accommodation.

Queensland

Response: Accept in principle
Status: In progress

What has been achieved to date

a) Modern Homes Standards (Complete):

Queensland has adopted a phased introduction to the National Construction Code (NCC) 2022 Modern Homes standards (MHS). Practical transitional arrangements were implemented via Queensland Development Code (QDC) Part 4.5 – Livable Dwellings and Grading to Floor Wastes.

b) Social and Liveable Housing Design in social housing (Complete):

The Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works target that 50 per cent of new social housing built meets gold or platinum Livable or Social Housing Design guidelines is currently being exceeded with more than 50 per cent of social homes delivered or supported by the Queensland Government built to gold or platinum level since June 2017.

c) Accessible crisis accommodation (In progress):

The Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works are conducting a desktop audit of the department-owned crisis accommodation. A project plan and scope of works have been developed in consultation with stakeholders, with an accessibility consultant also engaged. Four sites have been selected as a pilot to ensure the project parameters are feasible and potential constraints are identified.

QLD government response

The Queensland Government remains committed to implementing the recommendations of the Disability Royal Commission. The Queensland Government has updated its responses to a range of Disability Royal Commission recommendations to reflect contemporary Queensland Government policy and commitments.

2025 response

The Queensland Government notes:

a) The Queensland Government has adopted a phased introduction of the Modern Homes Standards contained in NCC 2022. From 1 October 2023 it is expected that 100% of homes will comply with the Livable Housing Design Standards commenced 1 October 2023 and these requirements apply to new houses and units in apartment buildings (noting limited exemptions apply), Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) Standard (LHD standard); and

b) The Queensland Government has committed to build 50 per cent of all new social housing to meet Livable Housing Design standards at Gold or Platinum level.

c) The Queensland Government supports auditing the accessibility of current Government-owned crisis accommodation and improving accessibility where feasible. The Queensland Government recommends a focus on Government-owned crisis accommodation properties only as upgrade of organisation-owned capital properties is the responsibility of each organisation and not Government.

South Australia

Response: Subject to further consideration
Status: Subject to further consideration

What has been achieved to date

The South Australian Government remains committed to considering this recommendation further and will provide a response in due course.

SA government response July 2024

The South Australian government is committed to continued improvement of public housing. The formal adoption of the National Construction Code 2022 liveable housing provisions in South Australia is set for October 2024. However, the South Australian Housing Trust commenced the adoption of the new liveable provisions in April 2022. To support this work, all public housing will be delivered to a minimum silver standard under the Liveable Housing Design Guidelines which have been endorsed as part of the recent changes to the National Construction Code.

Further scoping is required to understand the housing needs of people with disability in South Australia and how it interacts with current South Australian housing initiatives to implement part (c) of the recommendation.

Tasmania

Response: Accept in principle
Status: In progress

What has been achieved to date

From 1 October 2024, new building work in Tasmania is to comply with the part of the requirements of Part H8 for the following Liveable Housing Design features, including,

• clear opening width for entrance doors,
• requirements for at least one shower to be hobless and have step free access and a lip of not more 5mm; and
• reinforcement of bathroom and sanitary compartment walls.

From 1 October 2025, new building work is to comply with the above requirements as well as:

• internal doors and corridors must provide a clear opening width of 820mm;
• at least one sanitary compartment must be provided on the ground or entry of a Class 1a building, unless there are no habitable rooms located on that level.

From 1 October 2026, new building work is required to comply with all the requirements of Part H8 Living Housing Design standards, with the exception of the exemptions specified in the Consumer Building and Occupational Services (CBOS) Directors Determination regarding the application of Part H8 (Liveable Housing provisions) of the National Construction Code (NCC).

The ‘voluntary’ Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) standard refers to the gold and/or platinum livable housing design standards. Some dwellings delivered by Homes Tasmania do meet these standards, however the permanent adoption of these standards for all new social housing construction is not actively under consideration.

Current Tasmanian government policy priorities the delivery of longer-term housing over more crisis accommodation aligned with the Housing First approach in the Tasmanian Housing Strategy. There is therefore no plan at this stage to undertake any further auditing of demand for crisis housing.

TAS government response July 2024

The Tasmanian Government accept this recommendation in principle.

The Tasmanian Government recognise that there is a lack of accessible and adaptive housing for people with disability in Tasmania.

The Tasmanian Housing Strategy Action Plan (2023-27) commits to ensuring all new builds from 1 October 2024 adhere to the mandatory liveable design provisions in the National Construction Code.

Victoria

Response: Accept in principle
Status: Further work required

What has been achieved to date

The Victorian Department of Education is considering the current school monitoring mechanisms, including the school registration requirements with a view to identifying opportunities to strengthen the enforcement of policies, procedures and reporting relating to school compliance with inclusive practices.

VIC government response July 2024

We accept this recommendation in principle.

We support the intent of the recommendation. However, we need to consider further the best way to achieve it.

This includes the implications of extending the school registration authority’s role to oversee non-government schools.

Western Australia

Response: Accept in part
Status: In progress

What has been achieved to date

a) N/A.

b) New social housing is built to the silver standard as per the National Construction Code, where practical.

c) The response to part B also extends to the delivery of new crisis housing properties.

WA government response July 2024

The WA Government accepts in part this recommendation.

Having taken due regard to the current challenges faced by the building and construction industry, the WA Government has not adopted this standard at this point. 

a) is accepted and implementation is in progress. The Department of Communities seeks to build all new social housing properties to the silver standard as a minimum where practical. 

b) is accepted in part – The Department of Communities constructs new crisis housing properties to silver standard or above where practical. Livable design principles are considered in refurbishments where practical.

What the Disability Royal Commission said in the final report

State and territory governments should commit to increasing the availability and supply of accessible and adaptive housing for people with disability by:

a) immediately adopting the mandatory Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) Liveable Housing Design Standard for all new dwellings if they have not done so already, and developing a plan for the full implementation of the standard, including timeframes and outcomes measures

b) adopting the voluntary ABCB Liveable Housing Design Standard for all new social housing construction

c) auditing the demand for, and accessibility of, current crisis housing (including domestic family violence shelters and refuges, and natural disaster crisis accommodation) to –

• determine the appropriate amount, location and cost of crisis housing required to meet the needs of people with disability
• set appropriate targets for new crisis housing construction and refurbishment that meet the voluntary ABCB Liveable Housing Design Standard.

More recommendations

View progress on other recommendations made by the Royal Commission.