‘Music to our ears': Housing industry thrilled after Clare O'Neil reveals Albanese government's plan to slash red tape

Sky News AU

5 hours ago

The Albanese government's new approach to boost the construction of new homes has received enthusiastic support from the housing industry.
Housing Minister Clare O'Neil announced on Saturday that the Albanese government would push states and territories to roll back excessive levels of red tape that had made it 'uneconomic' to build new homes.
Through its National Housing Accord, the Albanese government has pledged to deliver 1.2 million new homes. However in an interview on the ABC, Ms O'Neil said it was 'just too hard to build a house' in Australia, an issue she attributed to '40 years of unceasing new regulation'.
"On their own, each piece makes sense. But when you put it together, builders face a ridiculous thicket of red tape that is preventing them building the homes we need,' she said.
'If we're going to tackle the fundamental problem — that Australia needs to build more homes, more quickly — we need to make a change."
Speaking to Sky News Australia on Sunday, the Housing Industry Association (HIA)Simon Croft said he was thrilled to hear the government was taking on the challenge of cutting red tape.
'Hearing the Housing Minister Claire O'Neill yesterday, say how they want to cut red tape, slash red tape, it was music to our ears,' Mr Croft said.
Minister O'Neil's comments about the need to cut red tape follow the release of a Productivity Commission report in February, which highlighted how the regulatory growth over 40 years had increased the cost, time and complexity of housing construction.
The HIA industry and policy chief executive said the cumulative impact of new and existing regulations had "driven up the cost of construction by 40 per cent over the last five years'.
'It's the additional time spent for the builders,' Mr Croft said.
'They're spending more time in the offices, having to review new rules and regulations and actually being on site with the nail bags on and laying the slabs to get these homes built.'
'So just for instance, a brick wall; there's 20 standards that apply just to a single brick wall.'
Mr Croft said while it was important for the government to get legislation right, they often overlooked the implementation and support mechanisms – such as the education and training required.
'There's just been a proliferation of more and more regulations… and implementation is often seen as an afterthought,' he said.
'What we want to see is implementation – as is (just as) critical, if not more critical than the design of the policy.'
Mr Croft said he was not calling for the wholesale repeal of building regulations, but it did need to be looked at.
'Is it all working correctly? Can we make some efficiency gains? And there is some outdated regulation,' he said.
'How can we streamline our planning approvals and the rezoning around it, because it's taking far too long to get those single homes built and delivered and approved.
'Often our members say they can actually build the home faster than they can get it approved.'
Speaking on Saturday, Ms O'Neil said what was required was 'three years of serious reform with the states and territories in local government'.
'We're up for that, and we know they are too,' Ms O'Neil said.
The Albanese government has pledged to deliver 1.2 million new homes over the five years beginning mid-2024 as part of it's National Housing Accord – an agreement bringing together all three levels of government.
However ABS Housing Data released at the end of May showed new dwelling approvals fell a further 6 per cent in April 2025.
The decline means that after just 10 months of the National Housing Accord, the Albanese government is already more than 45,000 homes behind its target.