Changes will be made to everything from procurement to workplace health and safety legislation as the state government seeks to tackle declining productivity in the construction industry.<\/p>\n
The LNP government tasked the Queensland Productivity Commission to find ways to improve the state’s productivity.<\/p>\n
The commission had estimated that productivity in the construction industry had fallen by about 9 per cent since 2018.<\/p>\n
In the agency’s interim and final report, it recommended that the state “should opt out” of the accessibility standards.<\/p>\n
“The costs of the accessibility standards are borne by a minority (new home buyers, many of whom are likely younger and face tighter financial constraints) who may never benefit from the requirement,” the final report, released this week, said.<\/p>\n
It also noted Western Australia and New South Wales had adopted the accessibility standards.<\/p>\n
Housing Minister Sam O’Connor said the government had decided to “maintain” the standards but would make “commonsense changes to the framework”.<\/p>\n
The Housing and Public Works Department completed a comprehensive review of the state’s implementation of the standards.<\/p>\n
![\"Queensland](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/10c31036fa3eb508be74072d37b5d726.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Sam O’Connor says the changes will make it “easier and more cost-effective” to build in Queensland. (ABC News: Christopher Gillette)<\/p>\n
Mr O’Connor said the review had identified a set of practical improvements to reduce housing costs and design complexities.<\/p>\n
For example, the changes would allow new homes to install ramps “at a later date”.<\/p>\n
“Our updates will make sure it’s easier and more cost-effective to build in Queensland without compromising on accessibility or energy efficiency outcomes,” he told the ABC in a statement.<\/p>\n
Future housing legacy<\/p>\n
More than 50 organisations representing people with disability, older people, carers, and the housing, health and community sectors had called for the government to protect the right to accessible, future-ready housing for all.<\/p>\n
Queenslanders with Disability Network chief executive Michelle Moss said they had “felt heard” by the government.<\/p>\n
“It means that we still are on track to be able to improve access to safe and appropriate housing,” she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Moss said many members from the network found it challenging to find accessible housing.<\/p>\n
![\"woman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/f12e51089706a9bb7cef046b17519377.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Michelle Moss says the decision ensured people with disability “felt heard”. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
In the latest Voice of Queenslanders with Disability report, almost 30 per cent of people with disability said they lived in a home that did not meet their needs.<\/p>\n
About 700 people were surveyed for the report released in September, which is funded by the state government and now in its third consecutive year.<\/p>\n
It found that some of the biggest housing challenges for people with a disability included the lack of accessible and suitable housing, and home modifications.<\/p>\n
Ms Moss said the government’s decision gave people with a disability hope that the future legacy of housing supply will better reflect their needs.<\/p>\n
She said accessible standards benefited everyone “right across the community”.<\/p>\n
‘Government has hung its hat’<\/p>\n
Master Builders Queensland chief executive Paul Bidwell said he had hoped the government would have accepted the recommendation to opt out.<\/p>\n
“Our own research tells us that making these changes voluntary, which is what the productivity commission recommended, would save around $44,000 for each new home,” he said.<\/p>\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/b8b344d5b846e754240ebf961e7b8ec4.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Paul Bidwell says opting out could have saved around $44,000 per new build. (ABC News: Glen Armstrong)<\/p>\n
He said it had left the industry in “limbo”.<\/p>\n
“The government has hung its hat on progressing some technical amendments and giving the industry more guidance material to understand it,” Mr Bidwell said.<\/p>\n
He said while the changes it had made were important it had fallen short of “fixing the actual problem”.<\/p>\n
“All the evidence supports to opt out,” he said.<\/p>\n
In the government’s response to the final report, it said the “amendments will be progressed and supported by detailed guidance materials, drawings and communication with industry”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Queensland government says it will “maintain” building accessibility requirements, despite the state’s productivity commission recommending it opt…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432815,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[226396,60930,64,63,226394,226395,11758,7688,182400,52354,44,3324,15878,226393],"class_list":["post-432814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-queenslanders-with-disability-network","tag-accessibility","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-building-accessibility-requirements","tag-building-codes","tag-construction","tag-housing","tag-master-builders-queensland","tag-national-construction-code","tag-news","tag-productivity","tag-queensland-government","tag-queensland-productivity-commission"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}