QLD President's report

I have enjoyed my first months as HIA Queensland President, meeting new member contacts and attending many HIA events.

I am constantly amazed by the incredible product, workmanship, and high-quality work that continues to be delivered by Queensland’s HIA members, particularly given the significant challenges of the last three years. 

These remarkable outcomes, and our industry’s success more generally, deserve to be recognised and celebrated whenever we get the opportunity to do so together as an industry.

We are well into HIA Awards season, with our Building Women, Kitchens & Bathrooms, Interior Design and our Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast/Wide Bay Awards now behind us for 2023. All have showcased what our members are capable of and given us an opportunity for us to connect. Our biggest event for the year is the HIA – CSR Queensland Housing Awards, which is ahead on 10 November.

Please also keep an eye on the website and our regular newsletter for information that will help you stay informed on the many changes that will affect building businesses.

The hot topic, of course, is the adoption of NCC 2022 by the Queensland Government on 1 October. While most of the focus has been on the energy efficiency and accessibility requirements, there are a significant number of other changes to the code. Find out more about these changes on the HIA website.

At the eleventh hour, the Queensland Government delayed the introduction of the new 7-star energy efficiency requirements until March 2024. The government has yet to make accredited software available to assess energy efficiency, so the industry is still in the dark on the complete set of options available to build a 7-star energy-efficient home under the new standards.

While trade and skilled labour shortages have eased to some extent, long-term concerns remain. How can home building continue to compete for services and labour against massive government infrastructure investments in clean energy, the 2032 Olympics, and health and transport, all due to come online over the next decade?

We continue to provide our industry with key information, advice and top-level advocacy on these and other issues affecting residential building businesses. HIA provides great value for us as members. We must continue to support each other for this reason.