{"id":677711,"date":"2026-05-18T01:40:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T01:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/677711\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T01:40:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T01:40:19","slug":"1-2-million-queensland-homes-unprepared-as-smoke-alarm-deadline-nears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/677711\/","title":{"rendered":"1.2 million Queensland homes unprepared as smoke alarm deadline nears"},"content":{"rendered":"

The day Brandon Lewis lost everything in a house fire is still raw, more than a decade on.<\/p>\n

“When I got to the house and saw it just engulfed in flames \u2026 it just didn’t feel real,” Mr Lewis said.<\/p>\n

“We lost pretty much everything \u2026 I was brought to my knees.”<\/p>\n

The Townsville resident was alerted to the 2014 blaze after his neighbours heard the property’s blaring smoke alarms.<\/p>\n

Mr Lewis has since dedicated his career to ensuring no other family endures the same fate, installing smoke alarms as part of his electrical business in North Queensland.<\/p>\n

“It was an electrical fire that started it and that’s always front of mind that everything we do needs to be done with the utmost care ensuring that everything is safe and compliant,” he said.<\/p>\n

With less than a year until new smoke alarm laws come into force, Mr Lewis is concerned many Queensland homes aren’t prepared.<\/p>\n

\"Young<\/p>\n

Brandon Lewis says he is concerned home owners don’t know about new smoke alarm regulations. (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)<\/p>\n

From January 1, 2027, all homes must be fitted with interconnected, photoelectric smoke alarms in every bedroom and hallway.<\/p>\n

The changes were introduced nearly a decade ago for rental properties but will soon apply to owner-occupied homes, including caravans and motorhomes, too.<\/p>\n

Despite the staggered rollout, national company Smoke Alarm Solutions estimated 70 to 80 per cent of owner-occupied homes were yet to meet the new standards, leaving an estimated 1.2 million properties needing upgrades within six months.<\/p>\n

\"white<\/p>\n

Every Queensland home will need interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms in every bedroom and hallway by January 1, 2027. (ABC News: Sally Rafferty)<\/p>\n

National sales manager Maryke Olivier-Nelson said the scale of the task was significant and time was running out.<\/p>\n

“People think they’re compliant because they’ve got one or two alarms, but that’s just not the case. Most homes need far more than that.”<\/p>\n

The legislation has been introduced in stages since 2017, and was designed to improve fire safety following the 2011 Slacks Creek house fire<\/a> that killed 11 people.<\/p>\n

Earlier phases targeted new builds, rental properties and homes being sold. The final stage applies to all remaining owner-occupied properties.<\/p>\n

Queensland Fire Department Superintendent Mark Halverson said the changes would significantly improve survival rates by ensuring occupants received the earliest possible warning.<\/p>\n

\"Forensic<\/p>\n

Forensic police at the site where 11 people died in a house fire at Slacks Creek in 2011. (AAP: Dave Hunt)<\/p>\n

“That early warning is the real key. It gives people time to wake up and safely evacuate,” he said.<\/p>\n

Superintendent Halverson said authorities hoped a “comprehensive education campaign” in coming months would address any gaps in community awareness.<\/p>\n

\"Acting<\/p>\n

Mark Halverson says interconnected smoke alarms are the best way to save lives from house fires. (ABC News: Emma Pollard)<\/p>\n

Trade and supply shortage fears<\/p>\n

Townsville electrician Tom Vawdry said many home owners were only discovering the requirements when selling their homes, often at the last minute.<\/p>\n

“It’s only when contracts come up and lawyers ask for a compliance certificate that people realise they need it,” he said.<\/p>\n

The looming deadline is also raising concerns about whether there are enough electricians and supplies to meet demand.<\/p>\n

“There’s going to be a supply and demand issue, stock availability, contractor availability, it all comes into it,” Mr Vawdry said.Cost a major barrier<\/p>\n

Typical upgrades for a four-bedroom home could cost $800 to $1,000 to be done by a professional.<\/p>\n

With many households feeling the strain of the cost-of-living crisis, Ms Olivier-Nelson advised against DIY installation of cheaper or incorrect alarms, which could potentially leave homes non-compliant.<\/p>\n

“There’s cheaper options out there, but safety and your family’s lives are not an area to try and save money on,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Maryke Olivier-Nelson estimates 1.2 million Queensland homes aren’t compliant with new regulations. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)<\/p>\n

The Insurance Council of Australia said most home insurance policies required owners to take reasonable steps to prevent damage.<\/p>\n

“Most general home insurance policies include reference to an obligation on the policyholder to take all reasonable steps to prevent loss, theft or damage to their property,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

“If a policyholder makes a claim involving fire damage, the insurer may look to see if lack of compliance with the new laws contributed to the fire damage.”<\/p>\n

Mr Lewis’s message for Queenslanders is clear.<\/p>\n

“This can happen to you,” he said.<\/p>\n

“You don’t want to be left wondering if you could have done something differently.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The day Brandon Lewis lost everything in a house fire is still raw, more than a decade on.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,16518,90602,40360,42930,4631,326636,44,326638,326637,122706,57915,177923,326639],"class_list":["post-677711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-compliance","tag-homeowners","tag-house-fire","tag-households","tag-insurance","tag-interconnected","tag-news","tag-non-compliance","tag-photoelectric","tag-queensland-fire-department","tag-slacks-creek","tag-smoke-alarm","tag-smoke-alarm-deadline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677711","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=677711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}