Summary
Housing Minister Clare O’Neil has told industry leaders she’s open to slowing down the pace of National Construction Code changes and cutting unnecessary regulation. The aim? To help builders and developers deliver more homes, more quickly, without sacrificing quality.
These conversations are set to feed directly into the federal government’s Productivity Summit on August 19–21, a key moment where Canberra, industry, and unions will look for ways to lift housing supply and productivity.
The Good Builder take: This is a rare moment where the government is publicly acknowledging something builders have been saying for years, constant regulatory change adds cost, complexity, and delays. But as we’ve asked on our own podcast: will the speed at which we want to build be detrimental to the quality of homes delivered and the future of families living in them? That’s a question every builder and policymaker needs to think about now, not later.
A Push to Clear the Hairball of Regulation
O’Neil’s comments follow a week of consultations with builders, unions, and state and local governments. Her view is blunt:
“We have a crazy amount of regulation standing in the path of builders and developers today that is serving no purpose other than to delay and create more expensive housing bills for us.”
For builders, this isn’t news. Many are already balancing shrinking margins, unpredictable supply costs, and a tangle of compliance demands. As Housing Industry Association MD Jocelyn Martin put it, the industry is “choking on this massive hairball” of rules.
From energy efficiency ratings to accessibility requirements, the building code is carrying more weight than it was designed for and changes are coming thick and fast. The NCC updates every three years, forcing builders to constantly retrain crews, re-spec products, and reprice jobs.
Why Builders Care About the Pace of Change
Good builders know high standards matter. Most aren’t arguing against building better, more energy-efficient, more resilient homes. The frustration comes from how those standards are introduced.
When regulations shift before the last round of changes has even been fully implemented, it puts pressure on crews, blows out budgets, and makes scheduling a headache. Small and medium builders who make up most of the industry are particularly vulnerable to these disruptions.
The Numbers Behind the Urgency
Australia is already falling behind on housing supply targets. The National Cabinet’s 2023 goal of 1.2 million new homes in five years is forecast to miss by 262,000. Treasury advice leaked in July suggested the target might be unachievable under current settings.
While land release, planning approvals, and state-based policy make up a big part of the problem, the NCC sits squarely in federal hands. That means Canberra can act and quickly if it chooses.
What “Simplifying” Might Look Like
O’Neil has stressed that any changes won’t lower standards, but will aim to give the industry time to adapt. Ideas on the table include:
- Longer intervals between NCC changes potentially five years instead of three
- Streamlining overlapping regulations that add cost without improving safety or quality
- Clearer national pathways so builders aren’t grappling with different rules across states and territories
Some industry voices want even more, including temporary freezes on certain upgrades, especially energy efficiency mandates. Others, like the Green Building Council of Australia, are urging the government to hold the line on higher standards and focus on providing certainty and consistency.
The Good Builder Take
If the government follows through, slowing the pace of change could give builders breathing room to plan, train, and invest without the rug being pulled from under them every few years. That stability could also help small and medium builders who don’t have the resources of volume builders to adapt quickly.
But there’s a bigger conversation here. In the race to hit housing supply targets, are we setting ourselves up for problems in 10, 20, or 30 years’ time? Will a focus on speed compromise the quality of homes and by extension, the health, safety, and comfort of the families who live in them?
The real win would be a system that:
- Sets high, achievable standards that hold for long enough to embed into practice
- Gives the industry clear lead times so changes aren’t a surprise
- Coordinates with state planning rules to avoid duplication and contradiction
- Balances speed with long-term livability and durability
What Builders Should Watch For
- The Productivity Summit outcomes (August 19–21) this will be the first real sign of whether O’Neil’s comments translate into policy shifts
- Any draft NCC reform timelines released later this year
- State-level adoption rates for existing NCC changes, as these will influence the pace and pressure on your projects
For now, builders should keep detailed records of compliance costs, delays, and rework tied to recent code changes. This evidence will matter when industry groups push for reform.
We’ll be on the lookout…
We’ll be tracking the Productivity Summit and NCC reform discussions closely. Subscribe to The Good Builder newsletter for on-the-ground updates and builder-focused analysis, so you can plan with confidence, not guesswork.
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