Industry rules cloud over ALP home targets

Coalition claims Labor will struggle to complete a single new affordable house in its first term of office with only a handful of builders eligible to participate under safety rules.

Anthony Albanese's government has been told by the construction sector that it needed to fast-track accreditation or faces difficulties delivering its housing target.

Anthony Albanese’s pledge to build 40,000 affordable homes through Labor’s $10bn housing fund would struggle to deliver a completed new project in Labor’s first term of office after the industry warned only a handful of builders in Australia are eligible to participate in the program.

Rules written into the Housing Australia Future Fund legislation require builders contracted to work on new social and affordable homes under the scheme to be accredited for working on government-funded projects.

However, of the more than 400,000 construction companies registered in Australia, only around 500 are accredited by the Federal Safety Commissioner under the Work Health and Safety Scheme for eligibility to bid for head contracts funded directly or indirectly by the government.

There are few if any residential builders accredited under the scheme in Tasmania and only a limited number in regional Australia.

While there are some exemptions to the FSC requirement, including construction of “low-value” and freestanding homes, industry experts claim the limitation threatens to severely hamper or stall Housing Australia’s ability to deliver its target of 40,000 social and affordable homes.

The government has been told by the sector it needs to fast-track accreditation or face difficulties delivering its target.

A government spokesman confirmed that as at March 31, there were 568 accredited builders under the WHS accreditation scheme.

“We are applying longstanding WHS rules relating to commonwealth-funded projects,” he said. “Housing Australia is already working with applicants and the budget’s additional resources will ensure builders are accredited without delaying the construction of homes.

“Applications are currently being assessed by Housing Australia and the government looks forward to announcing projects later this year.

“If the Liberals had their way, there would not be one home delivered by the Fund.”

Housing experts told The Australian that typically it would take between nine and 12 months for a builder to complete accreditation under the scheme, at a cost of up to $300,000 to $500,000 each.

The Urban Development Institute of Australia has warned that the HAFF was at risk of being slowed down or at worst “halted” if the accreditation problem was not resolved.

“Safety is essential for our construction sites and the Urban Development Institute of Australia is pleased that the Office of the Federal Safety Commission has clarified the operation and exclusions to the accreditation requirements, which will make industry’s task in achieving accreditation significantly easier,” said UDIA national president Col Dutton.

However, Mr Dutton there were several aspects that would need to be addressed.

“The Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner applies to contracts over $4m and to have the HAFF run at full potential the OFSC accreditation definitely needs to be streamlined both in time and in cost,” he said.

“There are several safety accreditations that many builders will already have. This has the potential to avoid affordable and social housing being slowed down or halted until OFSC accreditation can be achieved.”

The May budget contained a $13m boost to help boost the number of FSC-accredited companies.

“The Australian government has allocated $13.2m over three years from 2023-24 to support residential builders to get accreditation under the WHS accreditation scheme quickly so they can deliver the government’s 40,000 new social and affordable dwellings while meeting the highest workplace safety standards,” a budget announcement said.

“The additional funding enables the Federal Safety Commissioner to continue fast-tracking applications for accreditation from residential builders delivering residential building projects through the Housing Australia Future Fund Facility and National Housing Accord Facility.

“Fast-tracked applications are prioritised and allocated a dedicated Federal Safety Officer to facilitate faster pre-accreditation auditing and accreditation decisions.”

There were 449,162 registered construction companies as at March 31, according to the UDIA.

However, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations states on its website only that there are “over 500” currently accredited companies.

Opposition housing spokesman Michael Sukkar has accused the government of further mismanagement of the housing crisis.

“Two years after the Albanese government was elected, they still have not delivered even one home through their so-called Housing Australia Future Fund,” Mr Sukkar said.

“Now we find that even further cracks are showing in the foundations of this ill-conceived money-go-round. With so few FSC-registered builders to deliver these homes, Labor’s promises will never be delivered.

“Perhaps these fundamental issues with the HAFF explain why Labor still can’t say how many houses this fund will build, where the houses will be located or when the fund will first make a return.

“The mismanagement of housing under this Labor government has been remarkable. And this is yet another stuff up from an incompetent government and housing minister.”

To be accredited by the Federal Safety Commissioner means accredited builders have higher safety management standards and systems and undergo more rigorous auditing than they otherwise would have.