Victorian Chapter President David Wagner

Set among blackened tapering steel columns supporting a magnificent tracery of stained glass, our 2022 Gold Medallist Sean Godsell presented an eloquent AS Hook address to his home town crowd in the Great Hall of our national gallery. The presentation was a journey through space and sculpture, sharpened by a technical appreciation of material and construction detailing that was a joy to experience. Sean’s dedication and contribution to the art and discipline of architecture and his respect for our environment, both built and natural, is inspiring and reminds us that we need to continually strive to communicate the important role architecture has in our community.

Victorian Chapter President David Wagner FRAIA The last three months have seen the profession, at least the regulation of the profession thrown to the wolves, with a state government determined to disempower the Architects Registration Board of Victoria (ARBV) from being able to properly regulate architectural services and provide the consumer protection it is charged with providing. In early July we found significant changes to the composition of the ARBV proposed within a lengthy omnibus of legislation called the Building, Planning, Heritage Legislation Amendment (Administration and other matters) Bill 2022. The legislation most notably removed the mandatory requirement for architects to be on the board and assigned the appointment of the chairperson and deputy chairperson to the purview of the minister, rather than being elected by the board itself. These provisions would have significantly reduced the standing of the profession, not to mention the impact it would have had on the examination of candidates for registration and the accreditation process of architectural education. The intent was bewildering and the nonconsultative process quite without transparency. A significant campaign run by the Australian Institute of Architects together with the Association of Consulting Architects has resulted in the legislation lapsing for this parliament. My thanks to all the members who made the argument to their local representatives, not just about the inappropriateness of this legislation but also about the real contribution architecture makes to the living standards that our community enjoys. My thanks also to the politicians, both crossbench and in opposition, who did recognise the wrongful nature of this legislation and opposed or who sought to amend. September also saw positive regulation reform with the national adoption of NatHERS 7 stars energy efficiency for all new residential buildings, both individual and multiple. New Livability Standards were also adopted to enable housing to be more physically accessible to all of us, in particular those with physical ailments. We should recognise the great work that our members specialising in these areas have contributed to make these standards part of the upcoming 2022 National Construction Code. As these works have demonstrated, regulation can raise the standards of our built environment. It is my intention to provide CPD opportunities in these areas for our members, in particular in the pursuit of a sustainable environment which figures as one of our most urgent issues. Our profession is demanding, but we should be reassured that we make an incredible difference to peoples’ lives. As a young aspiring student, Sean Godsell recalled asking his architect father, “what is the most important characteristic to be a successful architect?” To which the response was “stamina”. It is a characteristic I see in abundance across our profession as we continue to produce and promote high-quality work despite often challenging circumstances, and it is important that as a profession we encourage and support each other in this pursuit.