Mandatory Australian building Standards to be made free

Among the raft of new measures included in the 2026-27 Federal Budget is the pending introduction of free Australian Standards for construction businesses where those standards are mandatory.

This will involve arrangements with Standards Australia to provide access to selected Australian Standards referenced in Commonwealth, State and Territory laws and regulations, including the National Construction Code.

This announcement has been years in the making with key industry bodies, including SPASA, calling for this type of support.

SPASA CEO Kristin Brookfield says that while the details are yet to be finalised, she believes the initiative will be of considerable benefit to the industry.

“This announcement opens the door to a critical step in allowing pool builders, trades and allied professionals, along with manufacturers and suppliers, to have access to the technical information they need to do business and ensure that they are meeting all of the required standards that apply,” she says.

“We know from the publication of the National Construction Code as a free online publication that industry will benefit from easy access to these vital documents.”

Additionally, more Standards will be made consistent across States and Territories, with key agricultural and veterinary chemical products added alongside existing work on household electrical consumer products, waste and recycling, building and construction, and food standards.

Other measures touted by the Government as aiding construction include reducing red tape, reducing duplicative data requests, permanently establishing the small business instant write-off up to $20,000, harmonising payroll tax administrative arrangements, and introducing two-year loss carry back for companies under $1 billion in turnover, among other investment and innovation incentives.

For retailers, running businesses across state boundaries will be easier by harmonising state retail tenancy frameworks.

For more, see the 2026-27 Federal Budget treasury media release and 2026-27 Federal Budget fact sheet.