NDS has joined a campaign to get the state governments of New South Wales and Western Australia to adopt the Silver Liveable Design Standards in the 2022 National Construction Code when building new accommodation.  

All states except NSW and WA have adopted the mandatory standards, which require developers to build seven core design elements into new housing for accessibility, adaptability and flexibility. We are longstanding members of this campaign, which sees this omission by these states as discrimination against people with disability and older Australians.  

We would like our NSW and WA members to call on their local members and disability and housing ministers to bring in these standards as part of their response to the Disability Royal Commission recommendations.   

The national Building Better Homes Campaign is a coalition of peak bodies and agencies, including NDS, pushing for adoption of the standards.  

The seven items in the Silver Standard include stepless entry to houses, step-free showers and ground floor toilets. These simple measures do not make the accommodation fit for all people with disability, but they remove the most common incumbrancers and make the home easily adaptable. 

The standards are far from onerous, and modelling from the Australian Building Codes Board shows that following them would add just one per cent to the cost of a new home.   

Nevertheless, in their ambitious housing plan in their 2024–25 budget last month, the New South Wales Government failed to commit to these basic standards. Nor has the Western Australian Government in the two years since the National Construction Code made them mandatory.  

NDS believes that, with the number of people with mobility issues set to almost double in the next forty years, the failure of these governments to sign up is shortsighted and discriminatory. It will force more people into specialist disability housing or aged care, putting pressure on the NDIS and increasing costs for government.  

Both the Disability Royal Commission and the Independent Review of the NDIS recommended the adoption of the standards, and we call on these governments to sign up to them as part of their response to NDIS reform.  

We urge our members, especially those in NSW and WA, to support this campaign by signing the petitions on the Building Better Homes website and contacting their state representatives and ministers.  

There are separate petitions for: 

It is time for NSW and WA to get on board and sign up to the liveable and accessible housing standards.