Enter your email and password to access secured content, members only resources and discount prices.
Did you become a member online? If not, you will need to activate your account to login.
If you are having problems logging in, please call HIA helpdesk on 1300 650 620 during business hours.
If you are having problems logging in, please call HIA helpdesk on 1300 650 620 during business hours.
Enables quick and easy registration for future events or learning and grants access to expert advice and valuable resources.
Enter your details below and create a login
“HIA acknowledges the need for accountability in the development and construction sector, though there is a balance to be struck between ensuring that consumers are protected and that businesses are not unduly hindered in addressing the critical housing shortage within the Territory,” said Greg Weller, HIA Executive Director ACT/Southern NSW.
“As the draft legislation stands, it casts the net incredibly wide as to who is deemed a developer. It is our understanding that there are to be limitations created at a later date through Regulation, however, while this detail is not known there is great deal of uncertainty as to who is covered and who is not.
“The ACT has a very effective builders licensing regime, which coupled with Builders Warranty Insurance, provides a functioning system that protects consumers in the event of non-completion or defects for all dwellings up to three stories. To overlay this with an additional licensing scheme, will do little to increase accountability or consumer protection, but add additional costs and red tape to building.”
Alongside the developer licensing proposal, separate legislation also proposes to create a ‘reverse onus of proof’ for builders and developers when in litigation.
“Rather than requiring the person or group pursuing an action to establish that the builder or developer has caused the alleged problem, this effectively requires they prove their innocence. In many circumstances this could be impossible, with a builder having no control over what happens after handover.
“This is a fundamental shift from one of our basic principles of law, that you are innocent until proven guilty.
HIA remains committed to working with the Government on sensible reforms as the legislation progresses through the Legislative Assembly,” concluded Mr Weller.
Mornington Peninsula-based builder G.E.M Taylor Constructions has won the prestigious HIA Eastern Victoria Home of the Year award for a striking, grand and complex project in Flinders. The result was announced at the 2025 HIA Eastern Victoria Regional Housing Awards, presented by Tradelink, held at Cape Schanck on Friday night.
The most exceptional homes in Western Australia’s South West, Great Southern, and Mid West regions were recognised on Saturday 13 September 2025 at the 2025 HIA Regional Western Australian Housing Awards presented by Wespine.
Lancaster Homes have won the 2025 HIA Riverina Home of the Year for their remarkable project Nero - a bold two-level home set on a steep suburban block, that combines off-form concrete and Shou Sugi Ban timber to dramatic effect.
The passage of the Domestic Building Contracts Amendment Bill 2025 by the Victorian Parliament represents an important step forward for the regulation of residential building contracts. Although further reforms are necessary, these changes implement some measures the HIA has long advocated.