Page 4808 - Week 13 - Thursday, 28 November 2019

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The ACT operates an integrated system of construction legislation for public protection, and this bill supports that system to help protect the safety, health and amenity of Canberrans and visitors to the territory. It is a comprehensive bill. It includes a range of reforms that have been signalled for some months, and I am very pleased that it will be delivered today.

MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Manager of Government Business, Minister for Advanced Technology and Space Industries, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (5.36), in reply: I rise to close debate, on behalf of Minister Ramsay. I table a revised explanatory statement in response to the committee’s recommendations.

The government has been very clear in its commitment to improving building quality in the territory so that the Canberra community has increased confidence in the building regulatory system. This is a very important bill in regard to that. Buying a home is the biggest investment many Canberrans will ever make. For the people who live there, the quality of these homes is important for their wellbeing and their sense of security.

The community have been very clear about their expectations about better building quality in Canberra. They have told us that they expect to hold builders to account. They have told us that they do not want people to use business structures to allow them to build poorly and get away with it. These expectations have been outlined during extensive consultation over many years on building issues, as well as through submissions, letters and complaints to the government and the regulator.

Following consultation on potential improvements to the ACT building regulatory system in 2016, the government announced a comprehensive reform program to address building quality and to improve practices across industry. We have completed 30 of the 43 reforms announced in the 2016 structure, including new minimum documentation guidelines for building approvals, exams for builders licences, a new code of practice for building surveyors, and the expansion of statutory warranties to all residential dwellings.

The bill is an essential part of this reform program. It will ensure that the regulatory system can operate effectively and that people involved in construction licences, including those working as part of a corporation, are accountable for work associated with their licence. It will also strengthen the regulatory response by expanding the powers of government inspectors to direct builders and land owners in relation to unsafe or non-compliant building work.

The government has responded to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Tourism’s recommendations on the bill, but I would like to further address the recommendations today.

Notwithstanding that the scrutiny report commended the clear and detailed explanatory statement presented to the bill, I have provided a revised statement to


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