Committees in Action
This week our committee meeting round continued with the Community & Consumer Conversations Committee on Monday, the Masterplanned Communities Committee on Tuesday, and the round ended on Thursday with meetings from both the Infill Development & Precincts Committee and the Outlook Committee.
At the Masterplanned Committee, key topics of discussion included Planning for School Sites and the policy and model subdivision conditions review that DPLH is progressing as well as ongoing advocacy work around enabling infrastructure to unlock housing in key growth areas.
The Infill Development Committee included a presentation from guest presenter Jamie Horner from Empire Estate Agents on strata management and other key topics of discussion included UDIA WA’s positions on key matters such as Public Open Space and Public Art contributions, and opportunities with Keystart and the health check for Perth & Peel.
The Outlook Committee included feedback on recent UDIA Outlook events, discussion on potential events and an update on strategy and goals for the committee. The Committee also discussed opportunities for enhancing member value through their working group that is exploring a member journey mapping process.
The Community & Consumer Conversations Committee is focused on continuing to improve the reputation of the development industry across new home buyers and the wider community. The community section of UDIA WA’s website is consistently populated with new fact sheets and blogs contributed by committee members. The new video series showcasing housing choice across the continuum has also been launched, the first featuring interviews with residents from Elysian apartments in Subiaco. You can view the video here.
If UDIA members are interested in participating in the housing choice video series, please contact Gemma Osiejak: gosiejak@udiawa.com.au
Creating a culture of collaboration
We were delighted to host guests at Wednesday’s industry breakfast as we explored creating a culture of collaboration with WA Planning Commission Chair Emma Cole and Environmental Protection Authority Chair Darren Walsh.
Emma took the attendees through how the WAPC have been reshaped by recent reforms that aim to improve efficiency, increase communication between government agencies, and reduce process duplication. The changes are designed to encourage collaboration between local and state governments, agencies, industry stakeholders, and communities.
At the core of collaborative efforts, Emma highlighted the work being undertaken to identify high priority infrastructure projects that will unlock well located land with high potential dwelling yield that is underscored by an industry informed readiness to deliver.
A key component of improving collaboration moving forward is the WAPC’s closer alignment with the EPA on planning and environmental approval pathways. By working with the EPA early in the approvals process, complex environmental issues can be addressed comprehensively, improving environmental and development outcomes while reducing uncertainty.
As land supply becomes increasingly constrained, Emma underscored the importance of striking the right balance between greenfield and infill development, and that to do so every level of government and industry will need to work together to sustainably and responsibly deliver the housing we need. Emma acknowledged that the planning system must enable, not hinder, housing and infrastructure delivery.
Darren continued the conversation, unpacking the role of the EPA to provide the government with advice and recommendations based on their assessments of projects. Like the WAPC, the EPA has undergone reform, with the primary objective to simply complexity and reduce duplicated processes.
Recently the EPA have established a priority approval directive that focuses on supporting housing and development projects to resolve environmental priorities while facilitating housing delivery.
As land for development becomes increasingly constrained, Darren highlighted that the environmental challenges will only continue to become more complex. Improving cooperation with the WAPC will allow the EPA to provide earlier strategic input into planning. By being involved at the district planning level, key areas for conservation can more readily be identified and protected while minimising the disruption to housing delivery.
Emma and Darren were later joined by Anthony Kannis (Director General, Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage) and Alistair Jones (Director General, Department of Water and Environmental Regulation) for an informative panel discussion that further explored opportunities for collaboration.
Special thanks to our sponsors Construction Training Fund, DevelopmentWA and Western Power for their support of Wednesday’s industry breakfast.
View photos from the breakfast.
Ocean Reef Marina certification
UDIA WA is pleased to announce that DevelopmentWA’s Ocean Reef Marina has been certified under all six elements of UDIA’s EnviroDevelopment program.
EnviroDevelopment is a nationally recognised certification and branding system providing independent verification of a development project’s sustainability performance. Certification recognises projects that achieve exceptional sustainability outcomes whilst also providing an edge for developers looking to differentiate their project.
Ocean Reef Marina is a leading example of a project that is proactively addressing sustainability on the site, while also providing a range of benefits to the future local community.
UDIA WA is very proud that Ocean Reef Marina is joining a growing list of WA developments that are well and truly raising the bar when it comes to delivering sustainable communities that will provide a fantastic place to live, work and play now and for future generations.
This is well deserved recognition for the DevelopmentWA team who continue to raise the bar when it comes to innovation and sustainable development and we look forward to working with DevelopmentWA moving forward to support the future of sustainable development.
To find out more about EnviroDevelopment, visit here.
To find out more about Ocean Reef Marina, visit here.
National Construction Code update
The National Construction Code (NCC) 2022 comes into effect in WA on 1 May 2025, with specific amendments for this state.
As a performance-based code, the NCC sets the minimum required level for the safety, health, amenity, accessibility and sustainability of certain buildings. The Australian Building Codes Board, on behalf of the Australian Government and each State and Territory government, produces and maintains the NCC.
Following intensive industry advocacy on the implications of the updated NCC in the context of the current market, from 1 May 2025, the NCC is to be read in light of amendments outlined in NCC 2022 Amendment 1. These amendments contain variations and additions for Western Australia, a variation for Tasmania regarding Volume Two Part H8, and a few minor corrections.
Changes to transfer duty introduced by State government
On the first day of the 42nd Parliament in Western Australia on Tuesday, the State government introduced a bill to amend the Duties Act 2008 to Parliament, to honour their pre-election commitments to first homebuyers and for people buying an apartment off-the-plan.
UDIA WA has previously welcomed the changes, that include:
- no duty being payable on homes valued up to $500,000, saving eligible first homebuyers nearly $18,000;
- a reduced rate of duty being applied to homes valued between $500,000 and $700,000 in the Perth metropolitan and Peel regions, and to homes valued between $500,000 and $750,000 outside those regions; and
- first homebuyers purchasing vacant land to build their first home will pay no duty on land valued up to $350,000 and a reduced rate of duty will apply to land valued between $350,000 and $450,000.
The proposed changes expect to assist 22,000 first homebuyers, with 8,000 no longer paying any transfer duty when buying their first home or vacant land to build their first home.
Premier Roger Cook said, “we recognise the challenges first homebuyers face in trying to get a foot on the property ladder and that’s why we’ve committed to this significant change.”
Thresholds for the off-the-plan duty concession will be lifted by $100,000 and will also be extended until 30 June 2026. The lifted threshold will mean that a 100% concession, capped at $50,000, will be available for properties valued up to $750,000 that are purchased before construction commences. For properties purchased during construction, a concession of 75% is available or properties valued up $750,000.
For the first time off-the-plan dwellings on single-tier strata schemes and community title schemes (excluding survey-strata schemes) will also be eligible for duty concessions.
You can read UDIA WA President Richard Pappas column on these changes here.
Fee Free TAFE continues to grow future workforce
The State government has committed to investing $58 million to expand the list of Fee-Free TAFE courses to support WA’s in-demand building and construction workforce. The investment aims to continue the momentum generated in 2024 where enrollments in qualifying courses reached 46,476 students. Early data for 2025 show that enrollments in Fee-Free courses and skill sets have already reached 25,000 students.
“Fee-Free TAFE is critical to ensuring government has the skilled workers we need to build more houses, but also to delivering the workers we need to both build and work in our hospitals” said Premier Roger Cook, “we’ve already made construction training courses free so that we can build the houses we need to support our State’s booming economy, and by expanding and investing in TAFE, we will continue to create jobs where they will be most needed.”
In late November the State Government announced an additional 2,140 Fee-Free TAFE places in housing and construction in WA. By partnering with the federal government, seven additional building and construction courses have been added to the scheme for 2025 bringing the total of courses available in the sector up to 17.