Since being elected as the Member for Yerrabi in 2016, I have had a number of constituents contact me about their concerns with building quality and the processes currently in place to remediate building defects.

As a result of these conversations I began conducting a survey of people in my electorate to better understand the prevalence of the issues raised and the impacts it is having on people living in newly constructed apartments and houses.

Through these conversations I have been able to provide the feedback from my constituents to Ministers within the ACT Government to inform an approach going forward.

Since beginning this survey other Labor MLAs have also begun speaking with their constituents about this issue in their respective electorates.

Findings from the survey have consistently highlighted concerns with the licencing of tradespeople, the implementation of certification processes, and the way in which people are able to access remediation processes.

I support Minister Ramsay and the ACT Government’s reforms in the regulatory sector including the changes to building licenses, increased powers for ACAT to assist in remediation and the expansion of statutory warranties for residential building work.

These changes will improve the sector and assist people in having defects dealt with. I note however that there are issues with building quality and regulation that continue to affect Canberrans and more needs to be done to help those affected, especially in my electorate of Yerrabi.

With Canberra continuing to grow and building development increasing, it is important the building system works for everyone.

I know that people who are affected by poor building standards and practices want to have their experiences heard and want something to be done to stop these issues from arising in the future.

With recent stories coming to light on this issue, I believe we must act now to fix the systemic problems within the building and construction industry.

Statement ends