I rise to speak on the Building and Environment Protection Legislation Amendment Bill 2019. This bill is a reflection of our government’s commitment to making sure that Victorians live in safe conditions, regardless of whether they are residing in houses, townhouses—like me—or apartments. The safety of building occupants is a high priority of our government. That is why in 2018 we made amendments to the Building Act 1993 to establish a new regulatory framework for swimming pool and spa barrier compliance. Even this was part of a progressive reform of the building industry that our government initiated in 2016.

This bill is designed to improve the regulatory frameworks in place that govern the building and construction industry. The changes proposed will ensure that we maintain our strong building and plumbing industries, as well as improving consumer confidence in the property industry. This is really important in areas like mine, the electorate of Tarneit, and most certainly across the outer west and other growth areas in this state, because the building industry out my way is going gangbusters and there is a lot of money to be made in the building boom that is underway. This makes strong regulations and regulatory frameworks so very important to protect the thousands of people across this state building and renovating their properties.

One of the key changes that the bill will introduce is the amendment of the Architects Act 1991 to require an applicant seeking to become a registered architect to be a fit and proper person. They must comply with mandatory continuing professional development requirements. It is an expectation that architects are professionals at their craft. One of the biggest complaints against this profession is a perceived lack of knowledge in areas like architectural practice and the National Construction Code. As a result of these changes, architects may be subject to penalties such as immediate suspension or be required to give evidence to the Architects Registration Board of Victoria.

The ARBV was established in 1922—that is a very long time ago—and not much has changed since. This is a body that is gravely outdated and in need of modernising to meet today’s standards. In order to do so, the Architects Act will also be amended so the ARBV will be fully empowered to enforce and impose competency requirements. As a result architects are going to be required to comply with these requirements, which will allow the regulator to maintain safety requirements both now and into the future. These modernisation measures and continuing professional development requirements are necessary in light of recent debates regarding combustible cladding that emerged earlier this year. What we have learnt since is that architects play a crucial role in determining the products and materials used in the construction of buildings. Our government is responding, and these measures are part of our appropriate response. The bill also establishes a list of possible grounds for an architect’s licence to be suspended by a tribunal, including violating the Architects Act, if they are guilty of an indictable offence, are not adequately insured or have not completed continuing professional development requirements.

In addition, the bill is also going to wind up the Building Practitioners Board. In future any dispute or inquiry involving building practitioners will be heard by the Victorian Building Authority (VBA). This is going to streamline building disputes and reduce delays in the system, creating a much more efficient process. An applicant who wishes to register as a building practitioner will also be required to meet a new financial probity test to determine whether they are in fact a fit and proper person. This is going to assist the VBA in preventing illegal phoenix activity where dodgy practitioners attempt to get back into the business.

The changes in this bill are also going to apply to the plumbing industry. The VBA will be allowed to immediately suspend the licence of a registered plumber on grounds related to public interest—for example, if a plumber has shown disregard for public health and safety. Plumbers will now be held to the same standards expected of building practitioners, because both should be required to uphold the very highest level of care when it comes to public health and safety. Given the important work that plumbers do in relation to installing wet fire systems and gas fittings, as well as maintaining them, it is essential that they are held accountable for when they stuff up, which is why this bill also allows for immediate suspension of a plumbing licence if they carry out that work and it creates a public safety risk. There are just no shortcuts when it comes to safety, and I do not think anyone in this house would say that plumbers should not be held accountable to the same standards as any other person in the building industry.

I have to say, as someone who went through the building process a couple of years ago, that the level of trust placed in the builder, plumber, electrician or any other trades that are involved in building a house is absolutely massive and cannot be underestimated. Now, I am not an expert in these fields, but I most certainly expected those people conducting the works at my house and involved in constructing the townhouse to actually be the experts. I know I might be considered lucky by some people who decided, like me, to go ahead and embark on the building adventure of the family home. I know that the member for South Barwon mentioned that, referring to a family home as every man’s castle. Well, I have to say that I am most certainly the queen of my castle, my very modest castle, in Melbourne’s west.

I have spoken to a lot of people over the past couple of years about what their building experience was like and whether my husband and I just found ourselves in a situation that happened to be quite unfortunate. We were considered lucky because over the two or so years since moving in we have been able to negotiate with our builder to come back and fix the problems, the defects and other issues that we have had with the property. But I do have to say that there has been stress, uncertainty and sheer frustration to get to that point of having the home that we thought we were building, that we had paid for, that we had taken out a mortgage for—to actually get to the point where the house is what we had hoped to build—has taken a long time. It has not been without a lot of frustration and a lot of stress.

It is absolutely astounding when you have these conversations, whether it is around your local supermarket or out on street stalls—like I said, Tarneit is undergoing a huge building boom at the moment—to see how many other frustrated couples are out there. The stories, the trials and the tribulations that we have in common, that we can share, are about builders in the local area, who can only be described as dodgy, for want of a better word, that have been able to get away with insufficient builds and defects being left at people’s family homes. So I am very happy to see stronger regulation, stronger regulatory requirements and frameworks in the building industry, to help protect consumers. It is protecting mums and dads; it is protecting people like me and the people in Tarneit.

In winding up the Building Practitioners Board, the transition of outstanding cases to the VBA is going to create a fairer, efficient and satisfactory resolution for the many, many disputes outstanding. Currently there are nine outstanding cases before the Building Practitioners Board. These cases have been the subject of delays caused by adjournments and rescheduled hearing dates as well as procedural disputes. No-one wants to be caught up in a building dispute resolution for a long time. The transition of these cases to the VBA will in fact resolve these matters in a more timely fashion and provide a faster solution for those involved in outstanding cases.

This bill is also going to abolish the Building Advisory Council and transfer its functions to the Building Regulations Advisory Committee. This is because, as per regular reviews of portfolio entities, it was found that the Building Advisory Council was not actually adding any public value. The BAC has already had several overlaps with the Building Regulations Advisory Committee in key areas like their membership and their functions in advising the minister. As a result merging these bodies will simplify processes and reduce unnecessary red tape.

This bill also introduces a number of changes to tackle illegal phoenix activities. These practices allow companies to resume their business whilst shirking obligations like paying their employees or their creditors. In regards to the building industry, there is evidence to suggest that these practices are also being employed to avoid liability for building work.

This bill is going to most certainly provide more certainty and confidence in our building industry, I have no doubt. The bill will raise the standards we expect of our architects, our building practitioners and our plumbers. I commend the bill to this house.