“These finding must be a wakeup call for all government policy makers and standards setting bodies.

“The report is yet another confirmation of what our industry continues to say, that regulation setting systems in this country are broken, are stifling business operations and  the Federal Government should set stronger expectations on regulators and policy makers to deliver growth and dynamism and hold them accountable for outcomes.

“Specifically, the Productivity Commission acknowledges the housing industry is plagued with numerous regulatory challenges that act as a handbrake on productivity and over the past years the volume and complexity of regulations affecting the housing sector have increased significantly.

“For example, all levels of government are imposing rules that affect where housing can be built, how it should be built and what it should look like. While safer houses built to higher standards are important and can provide benefits, the question now is on costs exceeding benefits and industry spending more time navigating regulation than building homes.

“Another important finding which HIA has advocated strongly for recognises that regulation settings have gone too far, are overly prescriptive, there is too much risk aversion by policy makers, and there has been a growing tendency by policy makers wanting to be seen to be doing something.

“Equally, the changes to regulation continue to be considered in isolation rather than their cumulative effect. The Productivity Commission recommends an immediate review of the thicket regulation in the construction sector, including their cumulative impact and alignment across regulators.

“The publication of this report is timely ahead of the Economic Reform Roundtable, and it provides a clear agenda on the need for a whole of government commitment to a set of immediate reforms that will at once reduce regulatory burdens on business," concluded Ms Martin.

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