Worksafe red tape making housing less affordable

“Workplace safety standards need to be justified in cost-benefit terms,” says ACT Leader David Seymour in the wake of a new report [1] on building safety red tape.

“The existing regulations form yet another regulatory barrier to housing affordability,” said Mr Seymour.

“Builders are being forced to take ‘all practicable steps’ to ensure workplace safety. The threshold is drawn so low that builders even have to erect scaffolding on single-story sites.

“Scaffolding requirements are just one example of how Worksafe adds compliance costs as high as $150 million to housing developments across the country. This cost is inevitably passed on to home buyers and renters.

“MBIE and Worksafe need to balance the costs versus the benefits of their safety regulations. Improving safety is a noble goal, but it doesn’t give the government a mandate to ignore the effects of regulation on ballooning housing costs.

“The high cost of existing safety laws shows we ought to cast a critical eye over the wide-reaching new health and safety reforms being pushed through Parliament right now.”

ENDS

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