Our ref: BNE3413110 8 March 2017 The Hon. Mick de Brenni MP Minister for Housing and Public Works Queensland Building Plan Department of Housing and Public Works GPO Box 2457 CITY EAST BRISBANE QLD 4001 By email: Dear Minister The Anti-Discrimination thanks the Department of Public Housing and Works for the opportunity to make this submission on the Queensland Building Plan Discussion Paper. The Commission makes comment on two matters in the discussion paper as follows. Liveable housing design Goal: To increase the uptake of liveable design features in homes The discussion paper outlines: Queensland has an ageing population. Liveable housing design is about making our homes easier and safer to use for all occupants and their visitors, including older people, people with mobility impairments, people with temporary injuries, and families with young children. In 2016 the Queensland Government established the Livable Housing Design Working Group to identify opportunities to improve the uptake of liveable housing design features in homes. The group includes representatives from the building industry, community sector and government agencies. It has identified potential strategies that could be used to increase the uptake of liveable housing design in Queensland’s dwellings. The importance of liveable housing design has been recognised nationally through the Council of Australian Government’s Disability Strategy’ ‘National and the Productivity Commission’s report for Older Australians’. The ‘Caring Australian Building Codes Board has also been asked to consider requiring minimum access features for new housing under the National Construction Code (NCC). There are three compelling arguments for the provision of basic access features in all new housing; human rights, economic and social. Since 2010 there has been a collaborative agreement (Liveable Housing Design) between national housing and community leaders to transform building practices to provide minimum access features in all new housing by 2020. However, there are very poor outcomes from this agreement to date. The current voluntary strategies have provided the housing industry little impetus to respond, and have therefore failed to meet desired outcomes. The societal costs of this inaction to provide basic access in new housing are ultimately shifted to the health, disability and aged care sectors and individuals and their families.
Our ref: BNE3413110 8 March 2017 The Hon. Mick de Brenni MP Minister for Housing and Public Works Queensland Building Plan Department of Housing and Public Works GPO Box 2457 CITY EAST BRISBANE QLD 4001 By email: Dear Minister The Anti-Discrimination thanks the Department of Public Housing and Works for the opportunity to make this submission on the Queensland Building Plan Discussion Paper. The Commission makes comment on two matters in the discussion paper as follows. Liveable housing design Goal: To increase the uptake of liveable design features in homes The discussion paper outlines: Queensland has an ageing population. Liveable housing design is about making our homes easier and safer to use for all occupants and their visitors, including older people, people with mobility impairments, people with temporary injuries, and families with young children. In 2016 the Queensland Government established the Livable Housing Design Working Group to identify opportunities to improve the uptake of liveable housing design features in homes. The group includes representatives from the building industry, community sector and government agencies. It has identified potential strategies that could be used to increase the uptake of liveable housing design in Queensland’s dwellings. The importance of liveable housing design has been recognised nationally through the Council of Australian Government’s ‘National Disability Strategy’ and the Productivity Commission’s report ‘Caring for Older Australians’. The Australian Building Codes Board has also been asked to consider requiring minimum access features for new housing under the National Construction Code (NCC). There are three compelling arguments for the provision of basic access features in all new housing; human rights, economic and social. Since 2010 there has been a collaborative agreement (Liveable Housing Design) between national housing and community leaders to transform building practices to provide minimum access features in all new housing by 2020. However, there are very poor outcomes from this agreement to date. The current voluntary strategies have provided the housing industry little impetus to respond, and have therefore failed to meet desired outcomes. The societal costs of this inaction to provide basic access in new housing are ultimately shifted to the health, disability and aged care sectors and individuals and their families.