Standards for Accessible Housing: Advocacy and Submissions

Accessible Housing Standards

In 2020 the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) issued a Consultation Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) addressing a proposal to include minimum accessibility standards for housing in the National Construction Code (NCC). The Regulatory Impact Assessment is a process designed to measure the benefits and costs of any new regulation and best practice includes a qualitative analysis.

As a result, MDI and the Summer Foundation have initiated three important pieces of research to help ensure the Australian Building Codes Board hears and considers the personal stories of people whose lives have been improved by accessible housing (and how the lack of accessible housing has adversely affected them).

You can view the complete initial submission from the Melbourne Disability Institute and the Summer Foundation here and access the various components that informed the submission below.

An independent review by two economists, Mr Andrew Dalton and Emeritus Professor Rob Carter, of the social cost benefit analysis undertaken by the Centre for International Economics (CIE) for the ABCB.	A study by Dr Ilan Wiesel from the University of Melbourne entitled, Lived experience and social, health and economic impacts of accessible housing, which includes 1187 survey responses and 45 in-depth interviews, providing some of the most comprehensive data ever collected in Australia about the lived experience of people with a disability living in accessible or inaccessible housing.	An audit of accessible features in 20 new build, high volume house plans, by Dr Di Winkler and Mr Tom Greaves from the Summer Foundation and Dr Andrew Martel and Mr Yizi Chen from the University of Melbourne.

Since we lodged our initial submission, our team has had a constructive meeting with representatives of the ABCB and CIE and we have now provided them with a final report from Dr Ilan Wiesel's study entitled Lived experience and social, health and economic impacts of accessible housing as well as a supplemental report which adds further weight to our core recommendation that governments set minimum mandatory standards for accessible housing at the Gold (LHDG) standard.

Supplemental Information

A final report from Dr Ilan Wiesel's study entitled Lived experience and social, health and economic impacts of accessible housing	A supplemental report which adds further weight to our core recommendation that governments set minimum mandatory standards for accessible housing at the Gold (LHDG) standard.

Over the coming months, the MDI and the Summer Foundation will continue to work to build support for this position.  In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to us directly at md-i@unimelb.edu.au if you would like more information about this effort.