Policy & Advocacy – Our platform

As we tackle the worsening workforce shortage, we’ll work for a collaborative workforce plan. We’ll fight for a more efficient and accessible QBCC licensing process to get more people on the tools, boost and sustain apprentice wage subsidies, and support initiatives to bring more women, and skilled migrants, into the workforce.

We’ll advocate for a transparent, long-term infrastructure plan from the Queensland Government. We need more funding for more efficient utilities connections for new developments, and to implement the Queensland Timber Action Plan. We’ll call on government to lead the development of digital supply chain traceability, improve product assurance, and support local government in the delivery of sustainable land supply for new housing.

A more resilient, skilled and financially sustainable construction industry requires reforms targeting cashflow, security of payment, capability and government procurement. Builders need adequate cashflow, certainty of overhead costs and predictable labour and material costs.

We’ll continue to call for free access to the Australian Standards referenced in the National Construction Code (NCC), and for the mandate on the energy efficiency and livable housing requirements in NCC 2022 to be removed. We also need action on the 10 essential changes to the energy efficiency and livable housing requirements responsible for the worst of the cost hikes and technical problems.

The QBCC needs to operate as a best practice, balanced and robust regulator. This includes holding licensed subcontractors to account when they carry out defective work, for licensees to be given time to fix a defect before a ‘direction to rectify’ is issued, and for Minimum Financial Requirements to be streamlined. Improper or vexatious consumer complaints should be filtered to prevent them from consuming valuable time and resources of both the QBCC and licensees.

Health and safety must remain priority one on our worksites. We’ll continue to advocate for a review of Queensland’s WHS laws to remove provisions that don’t maximise safety, and create unnecessary duplication, as well as ensuring they reflect the National Model WHS Law where practicable.

To meet the ambitious targets set by government and industry, we need a system-wide approach encompassing infrastructure, investment and insurance, ahead of any resilience measures being included in the NCC. Existing schemes must be expanded, helping more homeowners to make their properties more energy efficient and resilient. The road to net zero in Queensland must also not drive-up costs or add regulatory burden.

We will work for statewide housing codes that standardise basic design and siting requirements for detached houses, secondary dwellings, and small attached dwellings. Extending the boost to the homeowners grant beyond 30 June 2026, further stamp duty exemptions, increasing funding for social and affordable housing, and Queenslanders getting a fair share of federal funding programs, will all help get more people into homes, sooner.

Our industry is on the starting blocks to deliver the program of works for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games – and we need to ensure Queensland industry is first in line for the work, not depending on large out-of-state companies, so we have a fair chance at being part of the legacy.