Consultation period: 22 February to 30 April 2021
This information was authored by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources. The policy functions transferred to the Treasury in May 2025.
We’re in the second phase of our review of the Disability (Access to Premises – Building) Standards 2010.
The purpose of the Premises Standards is to make sure:
- people living with disability and their family members, carers and friends have equal access to public buildings
- building certifiers, developers and managers fulfil their responsibilities to people with disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.
The Standards:
- apply to new public buildings
- apply to new work like renovations on existing public buildings
- could apply to an existing building
- cover common areas of apartment buildings
- don’t cover people’s homes.
The National Construction Code (NCC) contains these Standards. It explains how buildings must be constructed. The states and territories adopt the NCC and enforce it.
The Australian Human Rights Commission can help resolve complaints of unlawful discrimination on disability grounds.
Why your views matter
The law says we need to review the Premises Standards every 5 years.
We review them to make sure they:
- ensure equal access to building for people with disability
- help builders understand how to make buildings accessible
- work the way they should.
We want to see what needs to change and when changes should happen.
We finished the first part of the review in November 2020. During this phase, people gave us ideas that helped us write a consultation paper.
We now want to find out:
- what people think about these ideas
- any other ideas to improve the Premises Standards.
We want to hear from anyone affected by the Premises Standards.
You can be:
- someone living with disability
- a family member, carer or friend
- a disability advocate
- in the building industry
- from government or local council.
Your feedback will help us write a report for the government.
Watch the webinar
Australia’s Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Ben Gauntlett, introduced the review in a webinar. Watch the webinar recording.
Documents
- Consultation paper [PDF 1.3 MB Consultation paper | DOC 646.5 kB Consultation paper]
- Easy Read version of the Consultation paper [PDF 8.3 MB Easy Read version of the Consultation paper | DOC 60.5 kB Easy Read version of the Consultation paper]
