Budget 2026–27: Free Access to Australian Standards Confirmed
Tuesday night’s Federal Budget confirmed a significant reform long advocated for by the DIA and the broader construction and design sector: free access to all standards referenced in Australian legislation.
For designers across Australia, this is a major moment. For decades, practitioners have been required to purchase access to the standards governing their professional work, often at substantial cost. Interior designers, industrial designers and practitioners working across the built environment rely daily on standards relating to accessibility, safety, waterproofing, materials, lighting, ergonomics and compliance. Yet access to these essential documents has remained prohibitively expensive, particularly for sole practitioners and small studios.
This reform recognises that the standards underpinning public safety, compliance and professional practice should be accessible to the people required to use them. The DIA has consistently advocated for this change through our participation in the Australian Construction Industry Forum (ACIF), alongside broader submissions relating to National Construction Code modernisation and professional practice reform.
As outlined in our March 2026 submission to the NCC Modernisation Team, the cost of standards access has acted as a structural barrier to compliance and professional participation across the design sector. This issue is particularly significant for interior designers, a Skill Level 1 profession of approximately 19,300 practitioners nationally, who navigate Australian Standards as part of everyday practice.
What the Budget says
The Budget confirms that:
“The Government is also taking action to simplify building regulations and make it easier to build by providing free access to all standards referenced in Australian legislation. This will save small businesses and tradies up to $1,600 per year.”
Importantly, the scope as currently written extends beyond construction alone. It captures standards referenced in legislation more broadly, including areas relating to construction, occupational health and safety, product safety and compliance frameworks.
The reform was also directly referenced in the Treasurer’s Budget Speech as part of a broader National Competition Policy agenda aimed at strengthening Australia as a “Single National Market”.
Why this matters
The implications extend far beyond simple cost savings.
Free access to standards has the potential to:
improve regulatory compliance
strengthen professional capability
reduce barriers for emerging practitioners and small businesses
support safer and more consistent design outcomes
improve accessibility to technical knowledge nationally
strengthen productivity across the design and construction sectors
For many practices, this reform may remove thousands of dollars annually in subscription and document access costs.
Importantly, it also moves Australia away from being a significant international outlier. Many comparable economies — including New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Canada, China, India, Japan and South Korea — already provide free or significantly lower-cost access to standards and regulatory documents.
What happens next
Implementation details are still emerging, and we're seeking further clarification regarding how the scheme will operate in practice.
The DIA will continue to monitor developments closely and advocate to ensure designers and allied professionals are properly considered as implementation progresses.
This is an important reminder that sustained advocacy matters — and that long-term sector engagement can shape meaningful systemic change.
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Summary - Housing Tax Reform changes compiled by Nerida Conisbee, Chair of ACIF's Construction Forecasting Committee