June - July 2021
Why accessible design will create long-term value Australia will include minimum accessibility standards in the 2022 National Construction Code, The Urban Developer reports, but should New Zealand follow suit?
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n 30 April, Australia’s building ministers agreed to include minimum accessibility standards in the 2022 National Construction Code. This decision reflects how housing needs to be more flexible to meet the changing needs of an aging population during the next decades. Within 40 years, the number of Australians with a mobility limitation is estimated to almost double from 3 million to nearly 6 million. The recent challenges ex-
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perienced by the aged care sector during the Covid-19 pandemic highlights the importance of enabling people to “age in place” and remain in their own home for as long as possible. Some simple changes to all new builds will result in a vast improvement in accessibility and future-proof homes. Providing at least one step-free entry to homes, widening internal doorways and making the size of showers more generous are additions that are easy to incorporate at the design stage of new builds.
These changes also create long-term value that outweighs the short-term cost. Including these features will provide benefits to all residents when they use a pram, replace whitegoods, recover from surgery or a sporting injury, and as they age or host extended family and friends in their home. Is regulation necessary? Creating industry change is difficult. Thirty years ago, policy makers could not understand why anyone needed kerb cuts in footpaths. We need to reflect back on
history and apply the “Curb Cut Effect” to new residential housing in Australia. “Curb cuts” were an innovation initially implemented specifically for people with disability, but now our entire population benefits from these ramps, whether they be parents with prams, travellers wheeling suitcases, or couriers delivering heavy goods. Robert Pradolin, director of Housing All Australians and former general manager of Frasers Property Australia, argues that when it comes to accessible design, we all have an obligation to think long-term. “The industry needs to play its part and the governments need to play their parts in ensuring that what we build is actually something that’s in the long-term interest of our country,” he says. As these studies indicate, including accessible features during the design phase of new builds is the best way to ensure cost-effectiveness. Furthermore, targeted exemptions to standards could mitigate issues arising in the minority of homes with site-specific challenges, including complex topography or smaller blocks. Including accessible design features into the code is not a big ask. The fact that some of Australia’s volume home builders are already incorporating some features as standard suggests that a broader introduction would not be a big step. Australia’s building industry initially argued for a voluntary code of practice more than a decade ago with the commitment that all new housing would be accessible by 2020. This approach has failed.
