Kat THEOPHANOUS (Northcote): I am pleased to be able to rise today to speak on the Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. I must say I have been looking forward to this bill coming on for debate this week, because whenever we debate bills on planning or building policy we always get a really unique insight into the diverse suburbs and the regions and the communities that make up our glorious state. So I look forward to hearing the contributions from all sides of the chamber on this as we detail the particulars of the bill and link them to the characteristics and circumstances of our districts.
In the inner north we are facing some significant growth challenges that necessitate a robust building and planning system. With the population of Melbourne expected to overtake Sydney by 2030 and be over 6 million people, there is a very pressing imperative to carefully balance the need for more homes with the impact on our environment, on open space, on heritage features and on local amenities. It also means carefully planning for more services like health and education, more infrastructure like roads and cycling connections, and more opportunities to create local jobs and unique local economies. All of this growth and planning must be buttressed by a building system that has quality, safety and equity at its core. That is the intent of this bill as we incrementally work to update and reform Victoria’s building system.
As you will know, the building regulatory system has not been really comprehensively examined since the early 1990s. In this time there have been significant changes not only to design and construction practices but in the very way we live and interact. Right now two out of five people living in the Northcote electorate are renting and a quarter of people are living in a flat or apartment. While we still maintain many beautiful low-rise streetscapes, which we cherish greatly, there is no denying that densification has changed the face of the north as we have absorbed and welcomed new families. Three decades ago suburbs like Northcote, Thornbury and Preston were heavy with factories and warehouses, and while some of that still remains, nowadays many of these have been transformed into medium- and high-density residential and mixed-use developments. Some of this has been quite confronting to my community. It has been confronting to me, having grown up in leafy Alphington, which is now seeing some pretty dramatic infill development, especially along Heidelberg Road. Thankfully, as we grow, there has also been a concerted effort to revitalise our suburbs with things like new parks and better schools, stronger public transport links and more community facilities. At the same time that all this has gone on there have also been significant leaps forward in terms of disability accessibility standards, energy efficiency and our understanding of urban design.
All this has meant a growing disconnect between the regulatory framework, the way the industry operates and the expectations of consumers. On the ground it means that major defects in residential buildings cost Victoria $675 million each year, with residential apartments making up two-thirds of this cost. For renters, who often have little control over the buildings they live in, these defects can mean homes that are uncomfortable, unworkable and sometimes unsafe. I have been really pleased to see the good work going on to update the National Construction Code and the advocacy from our government to ensure there are significant improvements to building standards that will come online later this year. They include things like mandatory accessibility standards and enhancements to energy efficiency requirements, something my community is extremely keen to see.
To augment this broader work we have also brought forward this bill, and our government is working to reform the building system into one that has safe, compliant and durable housing and buildings at its core. We want to strengthen consumer protections, give builders and industry more confidence and reduce the need for costly rectification works. To that end the bill will formalise and strengthen the role of Victoria’s first state building surveyor. The state building surveyor will have a statutory role as the primary source of expertise and technical guidance for the building and plumbing industries, but beyond advice the surveyor will have the power to issue building determinations relating to standards and requirements in these industries, translating to greater certainty within the industry and better building outcomes.
I cannot count the number of conversations that I have had with residents in my community about issues ranging from housing affordability to rental standards to building disputes and, distressingly, combustible cladding. At present there is no overarching peak body which gives voice to these people, which translates their frustrations and experiences into tangible and coordinated reform. So I am very happy to see this role created through the bill in the form of a dedicated building monitor. It is really important. The building monitor will represent Victorian domestic building consumers, advocating for them on systemic issues in the building industry. It will advise the Minister for Planning, giving that direct line into government, and will publish an annual building monitor issues report with its key findings and recommendations to government. This is a critical avenue for the needs, experiences and voices of residents to be heard and form part of the decision-making of government.
Now, the bill also brings into effect several other reforms, which I will not go into much detail on because I want to specifically address the challenges of combustible cladding and I am mindful of the time. But just very, very briefly, the bill expands the categories of building practitioners that will be required to be registered, giving consumers more confidence that practitioners have the appropriate experience, skills and qualifications to perform their roles. There will be a building manual which will be a single repository of all the relevant information relating to the design, construction and ongoing maintenance of a building, and that will address a significant hurdle for owners and owners corporations in accessing information about their building. They will be able to readily access information about the design, construction and maintenance of a building, which as we know can be really vital, especially if something goes wrong and needs to be fixed. There are also improvements around information sharing and improvements to the Architects Registration Board of Victoria.
I want to turn now to the parts of the bill which relate to combustible cladding, because this is an issue which unfortunately has deep impact for the lives of many residents in the inner north. Across my community there are still home owners and renters living in buildings constructed with flammable, combustible cladding. Not only does this cladding pose a significant health risk, but the cost of remediation can be overwhelming, with some home owners facing bills of tens of thousands of dollars to remove and replace the cladding from these buildings. For renters this can also mean that they are forced to vacate their homes while remediation works takes place, causing significant disruption and anxiety. The Andrews Labor government has of course established the world-first program to tackle high-risk cladding, with a $600 million package to fix buildings with combustible cladding and establish Cladding Safety Victoria. So far CSV has removed enough dangerous cladding to cover almost nine MCGs. Over 12,000 homes have been made safer from fire risk, protecting more than 22,000 Victorians, but the work is not done.
Just this month I received an email from a resident grappling with a notice that their building in Northcote has been identified as having combustible cladding. The resident detailed the financial and mental distress of these circumstances, explaining how difficult this unforeseen financial burden has been and the sense of injustice that the cost is incurred through no fault of their own. In this case the cladding has not been considered a high enough risk to qualify for our scheme, but this bill amends the Building Act 1993 to allow the government greater flexibility to determine how the cladding levy should be directed to support rectification of buildings found to have non-compliant combustible cladding. It will enable buildings that fall outside of the funded cladding rectification activity to be supported with funding. The process of remediation is ongoing, and many home owners and renters are still facing uncertainty, but these amendments will make it easier to get support to where it is needed.
As we look to reform our building systems, we need to ensure that our regulations are fit for purpose, that they strike the right balance and that they actively work to build equity into our suburbs. And not just that, they need to encourage innovation and excellence so that our buildings are not just safe and compliant but also beautiful and sustainable. In Northcote we really care about that. We want to create livable, sustainable and prosperous communities, and this bill goes towards doing that. I particularly commend the combustible cladding aspects of this bill, and I commend the whole bill to the house.
