Tasmania’s final livable housing stage started on 1 October 2026, so six of Australia’s eight states and territories now apply the standard. NSW and WA still don’t, and the exemptions change at the border. Here’s how it all works, in plain terms.

Builders pouring slabs in Tasmania this month are working to a new rule. From 1 October 2026, a new house there needs a step free path from the street boundary, garage, carport or car space to a level front door.

That was the last piece of the livable housing rules to land in Tasmania, and it means six of Australia’s eight states and territories now apply them. NSW and WA still don’t. And where the rules do apply, the exemptions change from one state to the next.

This is where things stand, what the rules ask for on site, and what the regulator thought they would cost.

Where livable housing applies now

The Livable Housing Design Standard applies in six jurisdictions. The Northern Territory and Queensland started on 1 October 2023, the ACT on 15 January 2024, Victoria on 1 May 2024, and South Australia and Tasmania on 1 October 2024. Tasmania phased it in over three stages, finishing this month.

State by state status (as at 21 October 2026)

NSW has never switched it on. Its version of the code says simply: “This Part has deliberately been left blank.” The 2025 progress report on the Disability Royal Commission lists the NSW position as “subject to further consideration”, after a Building Commission NSW discussion paper and a stakeholder roundtable in February 2025.

WA switched it off by regulation. Industry Bulletin 176, issued in May 2026, says compliance “will remain voluntary” under NCC 2025, and gives no end date. The Australian Institute of Architects WA Chapter says in a March 2026 submission that the state has extended that to 30 April 2027. We couldn’t confirm the date in a WA Government source.

“This Part has deliberately been left blank.”

NSW variation to the livable housing part of NCC 2022

What the rules actually ask for

Livable housing sits in Part H8 of the National Construction Code and applies to new houses (Class 1a). In plain terms, it covers six things:

• a step free path from the boundary or parking to the entrance
• a level entrance door
• minimum widths for internal doors and corridors
• a toilet on the ground or entry level
• a step free shower
• wall reinforcement in the bathroom and toilet so grabrails can be fitted later

It doesn’t require grabrails to be installed. It just makes sure the walls are ready for them.

What’s changed on site in Tasmania

Tasmania brought the rules in over three stages under a Director’s determination. Stage one, from 1 October 2024, covered entrance door width, the shower and wall reinforcement. Stage two, from 1 October 2025, added internal doors, corridors and the toilet.

Those first two stages were mostly inside the house. The final stage moves outside. From 1 October 2026, new work “is required to comply with all the requirements of Part H8”, apart from the listed exemptions. That adds the step free path, a level threshold, a landing at the front door and weatherproofing for a step free entrance.

On a site that isn’t exempt, that brings site levels, slab heights, garage thresholds and external works into the picture. None of those were part of the first two stages.

Tasmania’s regulator says projects with an earlier certificate of likely compliance, or certified substantial design progress, may fall under a transitional exemption.

Tasmania’s code freeze didn’t stop any of this. The Building Amendment Act 2026 holds the state on NCC 2022 until 30 April 2027, but NCC 2022 already contains the livable housing rules. The Act doesn’t mention them, and the determination phasing them in was left in place.

When the step free path isn’t required

The national code has its own exemption for the path, and only the path. It applies where there’s no step free route through a garage, carport or parking space, and the site is steeper than 1 in 14 on average, a ramp would go beyond the standard’s limits, or there isn’t enough room.

So steep and tight sites can be let off the path, but the rest of the standard still applies inside the house.

Elevated homes are one example. The Northern Territory says “elevated homes can continue to be built”, and treats highset homes with no habitable rooms underneath as too high to ramp. Queensland added a ramp ready option in August 2026 for houses that aren’t slab on ground at the entrance. That’s another way to comply, not an exemption.

Three states have drawn their own lines

Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland go further than the national exemption, and each has drawn its lines in a different place.

Narrow lots. Tasmania exempts lots with a frontage under 10 metres from the whole standard, with no end date. The same goes for irregular lots under 300 square metres that can’t fit a 9 by 15 metre rectangle.

South Australia exempts lots with a frontage of 10 metres or less, and irregular lots, if the lot exists at 1 May 2027 or its land division is lodged before then. The walls still have to be reinforced.

Queensland exempts lots with any frontage of 12.5 metres or less that were created before 1 October 2023, or created by 30 September 2029 from an application lodged, or a disclosure plan made, before that date. The exemption runs until 30 September 2029, which the state’s housing department describes as a final extension.

That’s where it gets messy. A 12 metre block created before October 2023 is exempt in Queensland, but not in Tasmania or South Australia. A block exactly 10 metres wide is exempt in South Australia if the timing works, but not in Tasmania.

Prefab and accommodation. Tasmania exempts small prefabricated homes of 60 square metres or less. South Australia’s line for off site manufactured homes is 70 square metres. Both exempt workers’ accommodation, and South Australia adds tourist accommodation.

Alterations. Victoria requires the whole building to be upgraded where alterations go beyond half the building’s volume over three years, unless the building surveyor agrees to partial compliance. South Australia exempts alterations lodged before 1 May 2030. The ACT lists no exemptions beyond the national one.

What the regulator thought it would cost

The only national cost estimate from the regulator we found is the ABCB’s 2021 Decision Regulation Impact Statement. It put the extra cost at $3,874 for a separate house and $4,186 for a townhouse. Depending on the type of home and where it’s built, that’s 0.5 to 1.9 per cent of the average dwelling price.

For houses that don’t need the step free path, the estimate was $3,264. On our calculation, that puts about $610 of the house figure on the path, averaged across houses that need one. Any single site could cost more or less.

Those numbers come from December 2020 costings and have never been updated. We found no data from any state on what the rules have actually cost since they started.

The same document found the costs outweighed the benefits: $6.82 billion in costs against $2.68 billion in benefits, with break even judged “unlikely”. In April 2021, two months later, a majority of Building Ministers agreed to put the standard into NCC 2022, leaving each state and territory to decide whether and how to use it.

Will the map change?

Building Ministers agreed in October 2025 to pause further residential changes to the NCC until mid 2029, apart from essential safety and quality changes. Our reading is that today’s settings are likely to be the national baseline until then.

That doesn’t stop a state changing its own rules. NSW still lists the question as under consideration. WA has consulted on it, according to the Institute. Queensland kept its standards after noting a Queensland Productivity Commission recommendation in its January 2026 final report to make them voluntary, then amended them from 14 August 2026.

What decides how the rules land on a job

Put it all together and six things decide whether, and how, livable housing applies to a new house:

• The state or territory. Six apply it, NSW and WA don’t.
• Lot frontage and shape. This matters in Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland, and the cut offs differ.
• When the lot was created. Queensland and South Australia tie their exemptions to dates.
• Slope and access. Steep or tight sites without step free access through the garage can be exempt from the path.
• Building size and use. Small prefab homes and workers’ accommodation are exempt in Tasmania and South Australia.
• Approval timing. In Tasmania, earlier certified designs may fall under the transitional exemption.

Livable housing gets talked about as one national rule. It isn’t. It’s a national standard that each state and territory has switched on, switched off or trimmed in its own way, so the same plan on the same sized block can be caught in one state and exempt in the next.

Building across state lines and seeing what livable housing is adding to real jobs? We want to hear from our community, so get in touch. And follow us for updates as NSW and WA make their calls.

THE GOOD BUILDER TAKE

Tasmania’s last stage closes its phase in, but it doesn’t settle the map. The line that decides whether a job is caught is a frontage width or a lot creation date set locally, not nationally.

The cost evidence hasn’t moved since 2021, when the regulator’s own analysis found costs outweighed benefits and ministers went ahead. With national residential changes paused until mid 2029, the open questions now sit with NSW and WA, and with whether any state publishes what the rules have actually cost since 2023.

Frequently asked questions

Related articles

• NCC 2025 State by State: Where the New Building Code Applies Now, When It Becomes Mandatory, and What It Costs You
• Construction Licensing and Compliance in Australia

Last updated: 21 October 2026. State status checked against each jurisdiction’s regulator or legislation.

General Information Only: The content we publish is provided for general informational and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal, financial, tax, or professional advice and should not be relied upon as such. Information may not reflect the most current legal or regulatory developments in your state or territory. We accept no liability for actions taken or not taken based on the content of this article. Independent professional advice should always be sought before making decisions that affect your business.

Author: TGB Editorial