“The interim report rightly acknowledges that accumulated regulation and escalating documentation requirements are undermining productivity and driving up housing costs.

“This report validates the lived experience of Australia’s residential building industry. The system is no longer working as intended, and the cumulative burden of regulation is making it harder, slower and more expensive to build homes.

“The interim report proposes reforms to improve the usability and accessibility of the NCC, strengthen national consistency, apply more robust cost–benefit analysis, support innovation and modern construction methods, and lower the cost and complexity of proving compliance.

“These reform directions are long overdue and essential if Australia is to meet its housing supply targets and lift industry productivity.

“We support strong, performance based building standards, but regulation must be practical, proportionate and affordable. Too often the NCC has been used as a blunt policy tool, without sufficient regard to real world costs or on site realities.

“HIA cautioned that while the interim report makes the right noises on the reforms needed it alone will not deliver the certainty the industry urgently needs.

“The industry cannot afford another drawn out reform process. Government must now move quickly from diagnosis to decisive action.

“HIA reiterate our calls for greater stability in future NCC changes, a targeted effort to reduce complexity and outdated provisions, strong discipline around any new requirements, a permanent focus on productivity and affordability, and meaningful industry involvement in code development.

“Genuine NCC reform must also include removing paywalls on accessing Australian Standards and embracing AI enabled, builder focused digital tools.

“Smarter, technology driven solutions, including AI, could help builders quickly identify relevant provisions and compliance pathways—cutting red tape, improving productivity and lowering costs without compromising safety or quality.

“If the Government is serious about increasing housing supply and improving affordability, NCC reform must be bold, practical and delivered without delay.

“HIA looks forward to working with the Federal Government, states and territories as reforms progress toward a final report later this year and the delivery of a truly modern, fit for purpose building code,” concluded Mr Keating.

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