UDIA WA Policy Positions

All Western Australians deserve to have a home to call their own. It is critical that industry is leveraged and supported to deliver supply across the housing continuum to provide housing choice and ensure West Australians have a home to suit their needs and life stage. There is a need for an all-hands-on-deck approach to addressing WA’s housing supply and affordability crisis. UDIA WA is supportive of measures that unlock supply in the near term and that ensure long-term thinking about housing policy to enable a sustainable forward pipeline of housing options.

Housing affordability is one of the biggest concerns for West Australians right now. UDIA WA is supportive of State Government policy intervention and investment to drive housing supply and keep a lid on housing affordability.  This should include taking a ‘first, do no harm’ approach to regulation, policy and taxation to boost the viability of medium and higher density infill development and unlocking a development-ready land supply pipeline in growth areas that typically deliver housing options at or below Perth’s median house price.

UDIA WA recognises and acknowledges the importance and value of social and affordable housing in the housing continuum and State and Federal Government investment to increase supply and to ensure the necessary wrap around support services are supported.

The inclusion of social and affordable housing provision as part of private development projects should be incentivised rather than mandated and it should not adversely impact project viability.

UDIA WA advocates for the establishment of a dedicated procurement and fast-track approvals pathway for private sector projects (including developer-led with Community Housing Providers) that deliver mixed tenure social or affordable housing and provide density bonuses for additional floor space and height, and reduced lot size.

Keystart is one of the most valuable tools in WA to support home ownership. With the recent changes to transition to a Government Trading Enterprise to enable Keystart to help underwrite new developments, this is a smart way to leverage the private sector to deliver hundreds of new homes. UDIA WA is supportive of State Government investment in the Keystart Shared Equity Scheme to provide greater housing choice for those who need a leg up to get into their own home.

The Federal Government has set a lofty target under the Housing Accord for WA of 125,000 new homes over five years. UDIA WA is supportive of the establishment of a stretch target to focus efforts, but the reality is that based on current housing delivery, there will be a significant shortfall against that target. Direct action needs to be taken now, to ensure the delivery of the homes we need, faster.

As Western Australia’s population continues to grow at a rate exceeding that of any other state or territory in the nation, housing supply will continue to fail to keep pace with demand. UDIA WA supports the State Government’s aspirations for a more compact and connected city under the Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million frameworks and METRONET and all forms of supply, in both greenfield and infill locations, are urgently needed to meet the needs of our current and growing population.

Currently, there is a lack of commitment and accountability across government to a shared vision for accommodating the future population growth of Perth and WA. UDIA WA supports a ‘health check’ of Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million and renewed efforts to ensure a whole-of-Government approach to a shared vision, and it is essential that the community is brought on the journey.

UDIA WA supports a vision for Perth as a more compact and connected city as part of a more sustainable future. To achieve this vision, industry must be supported to deliver more medium and higher density housing options in a range of areas, especially around transport hubs, main streets, shops and other activity centres. It is also essential that the State Government engages with the community to facilitate this vision.

Infill development is a critical piece of the housing supply puzzle. UDIA WA is broadly supportive of the 47% target for infill development set by State Government in Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million.

UDIA WA supports strategic planning and investment into activity centres and precincts to bridge the feasibility gap and create opportunities to facilitate medium and higher density, including transit orientated developments. This should include facilitating increased density through initiating improvement plans and schemes, as well as upcoding, particularly when lots are of a suitable size to deliver medium and higher density homes.

To get more apartment projects on the ground, UDIA WA continues to advocate for an increase and expansion of the Infrastructure Development Fund (IDF). This should allow reimbursement of a range of statutory fees and charges, broader than just headworks.

Across the nation, greenfield areas are accommodating a large share of population growth in our cities, as they enable housing delivery at greater pace and scale, and they attract and cater for the needs of a broad demographic through delivering more affordable housing options. While an increased focus on urban intensification through infill development is essential, targeted urban expansion will continue to have an important role for housing supply and affordability, and in supporting Perth’s broader economic prosperity. UDIA WA supports a balanced approach to the provision of diverse and affordable housing supply, including through the development of greenfield suburbs in key urban growth areas such as those identified in Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million.

UDIA WA supports properly planned and well-designed masterplanned communities and greenfield developments being designed for sustainability, liveability and resilience. It is essential that Government and industry work collaboratively to ensure timely and appropriate infrastructure and service provision to support these new communities.

While there is land in Perth and Peel that is zoned for urban or potential future urban development, the reality is that many areas are constrained by factors that prevent timely delivery of much-needed housing supply. UDIA WA strongly supports Government working with industry to identify and address constraints holding back housing delivery, particularly on land identified as part of the response to accommodate WA’s growing population, to ensure a development-ready supply pipeline. This must include working collaboratively to address constraints such as land fragmentation, commerciality, long term ownership, etc. and planning, funding and delivering critical enabling infrastructure.

UDIA WA has concerns around the way in which the State Government currently forecasts land supply for the delivery of new homes. A comprehensive review of DPLH’s land supply forecasting approach and the Urban Growth Monitor is required, building off UDIA WA’s National Housing Pipeline analysis, to ensure an accurate picture of the forward pipeline and enable better integrated land use and infrastructure planning.

Unnecessary red tape and delays in the planning approvals process exacerbates the challenges in delivering housing choice to the market. UDIA WA is supportive of the State Government’s ongoing planning reform agenda and welcomes reforms that are impactful in ensuring a streamlined and efficient approvals system, particularly to enable delivery of greater housing diversity and to support affordability.

Re-establishing the leadership role of DPLH as a central government agency in bringing relevant agencies and departments together to deliver on the aspirations of Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million, and for key regional centres, will be crucial to accommodate sustainable population growth and ensure a more vibrant and connected city.

UDIA WA is supportive of the Part 11B Significant Development Pathway, and the SDAU within DPLH, to streamline assessments and approvals for major development proposals through an opt-in process for developments valued over $20m in Perth and Peel or $5 million in regional WA. However, UDIA WA advocates for an approach that is risk-based and efficient, avoiding an overreliance on pre-lodgement processes which include detailed assessments and requests for information that should otherwise be submitted with the DA, not before.

UDIA WA is supportive of the intent of the SRCU to coordinate State Government agency referral advice to consider proposals strategically from a State-wide perspective (particularly in relation to the permanent Part 11B Significant Development Pathway). To ensure effectiveness, it is essential the Unit is fully integrated into DPLH and that the Unit works collaboratively with proponents, seeking efficient approval processes rather than adding undue process and complexity.

UDIA WA was supportive of the DAP reforms in 2024 to ensure a fair, consistent and professional decision-making process for development applications for proposals valued over $2 million. UDIA WA would not be supportive of changes to increase the opt-in threshold. UDIA WA advocates for performance reviews of the DAPs to ensure they operate as effectively as intended.

UDIA WA is supportive of the intent of the State and Local Design Review Panels, to provide independent advice to enhance design outcomes for new buildings and infrastructure. It is essential to ensure there is appropriate guidance for establishing and operating DRPs, including around thresholds to determine which projects need to undergo design review, a clear mandate for Chairs and DRP members, as well as training for all DRP members, to avoid scope creep and unnecessary delays and ensure consistency and effectiveness. DRP assessment should be undertaken by design professionals and advice must remain focused on design quality only (across the guiding 10 principles outlined in State Planning Policy 7.0 – Design of the built environment), consider the context and project specifics, and give due regard to understanding the designer’s approach.

UDIA WA supports the intent of the Parallel Decision-Making Policy as a step in the right direction but planning decisions must be included. Removing planning decisions from being ‘restricted decisions’ is essential to fully realise the desired outcomes, including removal of duplicated process and streamlining of planning and environmental approvals to support the timely provision of housing supply.

UDIA WA is supportive of the State Planning Policy 7.3 Residential Design Codes released in 2024, with the new ‘Part C’ providing design guidance for quality medium density housing development in WA. High quality medium density development is a crucial component of delivering housing choice and supporting a more compact, connected and liveable city. The new Codes provide greater certainty and clarity for industry around delivering single homes R50 and above, grouped dwellings R30 and above, and multiple dwellings R30 to R60

Lead infrastructure is a crucial component of a development-ready land and housing supply pipeline. As greenfield land parcels become increasingly fragmented, delivering development together with appropriate infrastructure is becoming increasingly difficult and we need a greater focus on addressing constraints wherever we can to unlock land for new homes.

UDIA WA strongly advocates for cross-Government collaboration and proactive engagement with industry to identify the ‘building blocks’ and work to plan, coordinate and deliver infrastructure ‘at the right time’. This will enable faster housing delivery, unlock diverse and affordable options, ensure consistent land supply, and support a collaborative response to WA’s housing crisis.

UDIA WA strongly supports Government investment in enabling infrastructure to unlock land in key growth corridors, prioritising funding commitments to those areas and items that will deliver the highest dwelling yields, such as in the North-East (North Ellensbrook and Bullsbrook), North-West (East Wanneroo), and Southern (Mundijong and East Wellard) areas identified in Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million.

The State Government’s $400 million HEIF directly responds to UDIA WA’s advocacy and is supported to kick-start planning and delivery of identified crucial enabling infrastructure items/packages to accelerate housing delivery in key growth areas such as North Ellenbrook and Bullsbrook, East Wanneroo and Mundijong and East Wellard. The HEIF should be increased and matched by the Federal Government to ensure delivery of key items and to unlock further growth areas. The eligibility should allow local governments, developers and landowners to apply for funding for infrastructure to catalyse residential development in identified growth areas. It must not be used to top up CAPEX budgets for BAU capital works or on servicing for existing growth areas.

With the Machinery of Government changes effective from 1 July 2025, infrastructure delivery and accountability cuts across multiple departments and it is unclear what the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage’s role is. UDIA WA supports the establishment of a Coordinator General role and team within the Department of the Premier and Cabinet to drive cross-government accountability around strategic infrastructure coordination. It should have a clear mandate to coordinate and facilitate planning and delivery of strategically important infrastructure priorities to ensure appropriate multi-agency resourcing, prioritisation and funding, including packaging projects to leverage Federal Government funding.

The timely provision, upgrading and maintenance of utilities and servicing infrastructure, considering development intentions, is critical to housing supply. Ensuring service agencies (e.g. Water Corporation, Western Power, Main Roads) are appropriately funded across Budget Forward Estimates for the provision of infrastructure within existing zoned growth areas, as well as infill precincts, is crucial to avoid approval and clearance delays and to enable residential development to occur.

It is recognised and acknowledged that broader investment by Government in strategically important major infrastructure projects supports and enables urban development to cater for demands from WA’s current and growing population. However, the residential construction sector must compete for scarce labour and materials and as such UDIA WA supports a smoothing of the major infrastructure project pipeline and prioritisation of counter-cyclical investment by Government to retain a skilled construction workforce in WA.

Effective coordination of community infrastructure and development is crucial for liveability of our communities. Local governments should however not rely exclusively on developers to fund community infrastructure through Development Contribution Plans (DCPs) but rather accept the intent of State Planning Policy 3.6 that this is a shared responsibility. UDIA WA advocates for the establishment of a simplified delivery model for residential DCPs which ensures a consistent approach across local governments and improves overall management, as well as delivery timeframes for community infrastructure.

Amid cost-of-living pressures and rapidly diminishing housing affordability, there must be a commitment to first do no harm and not exacerbate these issues with increases to taxes, fees or charges and the cost to deliver supply. State and local government also need to work to reduce the adverse implications of the current layering of policy and regulatory requirements and costs imposed on development to support the feasibility and affordability of medium and higher density housing supply.

All new or amended legislation, policies and planning instruments with implications for the provision of diverse supply should be carefully examined through a housing affordability lens, with modelling of the impacts on housing included in Regulatory Impact Statements for Cabinet Submissions.

UDIA WA advocates for early engagement with industry on policy and regulatory matters affecting the industry and which could have implications for the timely delivery of diverse and affordable housing.  While there is merit in targeted consultations through the establishment of advisory groups (or similar) with appropriate representation from industry bodies and technical experts, this should not be favoured over public / industry-wide consultation. Industry involvement at critical junctures is essential to shape implementable and effective policy and ultimately ensure better outcomes for West Australians.

Current property tax settings are unfair and negatively impacting the delivery of and access to diverse housing options for many West Australians. A complete review of property taxes is needed, and long overdue. A fair and efficient taxation system will improve housing affordability, support home ownership and right sizing, and attract greater investment in the WA housing market to increase rental supply. It must also seek to ensure a level playing field for infill and BTR development with house and land.

In the absence of broader property tax reform, UDIA WA strongly supports making the transfer duty concession (pre-construction and under construction) extension to grouped dwellings and advocates its permanency and for removal of the purchase price thresholds so buyers of all new apartments and townhouses gain greater benefit.

UDIA WA is supportive of policies that enable first home buyers to more readily access the housing market. UDIA WA supports an uplift and regular review of the stamp duty exemptions to better reflect market conditions, and advocates indexation to ensure first home buyers are not locked out.

UDIA WA does not support this surcharge, which imposes 7% on the dutiable value for certain transactions and landholder acquisitions involving foreign persons or entities acquiring. At the very least, the State Government should implement a two-year freeze, to increase rental stock and make WA more attractive to workers from overseas.

With household sizes shrinking and a growing number of singles and couple households desiring options outside of the standard family home, WA’s current housing stock is under-utilised. UDIA WA is supportive of right sizing, where residents can transition easily and cost effectively between different types of housing as and when their needs change. The State Government should facilitate the affordability of right sizing through property tax reforms.

UDIA WA supports BTR as an effective and sustainable solution to many of WA’s current and long-term rental challenges. UDIA WA supports the State Government’s land tax exemption for BTR, which are necessary to increase otherwise slow progress in BTR development in Perth.

UDIA WA is supportive of measures to increase the supply of homes and affordable rentals to market. UDIA WA does not support removal of negative gearing and/or capital gains tax discounts (or restrictions being imposed on the private rental market such as rent freezes and caps on rent increases) which would create uncertainty and adversely impact current and future investors. Boosting investor activity is crucial in getting more apartment projects on the ground and increasing overall supply and housing choice for purchases and renters in the short and long term.

The NCC needs to ensure our homes are well-built, sustainable, durable and affordable to deliver. If this is achieved in close consultation with the sector that does the work, then other layers of state and local government regulation are unnecessary.

The development and construction industries are under constant pressure to adapt and innovate but the rate of change demanded by the repeated re-working of NCC, with a new set of processes, operational updates and compliance being required each time, is unsustainable. As such, UDIA WA supports UDIA National’s advocacy for a freeze on future changes for at least 5-10 years, with at least two-year gaps between future amendments thereafter to allow for preparation and transition.

UDIA WA supports the general principles for Mandatory Inspections (as recommended by the Australian Building Codes Board Model Guidance on BCR Report 2021 at Recommendation 18) and Registered Building Surveyor (RBS) being responsible for undertaking any mandatory inspections, with developers being able to engage the RBS directly.

There is a large amount of existing regulation that developers and their sub-contractors are required to comply with. UDIA WA is supportive of the approach taken by developers of quality and repute who work with a host of expert consultants, actively engage with relevant authorities who will later service the building during the design process and who have progressive inspections by Registered Building Surveyors throughout the construction process to identify and rectify non-compliances.

UDIA WA also encourages buyers to discuss with developers and builders the processes in place to assist in understanding how risks are managed and how any issues would be rectified if they were to arise during or following the process of construction.

To help boost the viability of apartment projects, UDIA WA supports the State Government’s IDF, but the funding commitment must be extended beyond FY25-26 and increased, and it should allow the reimbursement of a broader range of statutory fees and charges beyond headworks.

As a budget neutral measure, there should be an audit of the IDF funds allocated to date, including confirmation of the actual headworks costs and the likelihood of projects being progressed by the successful applicant, with a view to reallocate funding which will not be spent and/or where sites for unviable projects are being on-sold.

UDIA WA advocates the coordination of local and state government agencies to ensure the efficient co-location of necessary infrastructure, to maximise the community benefit from public open space while reducing land take and thus the densities achievable in growth corridors.

UDIA WA supports policies that ensure all communities have well-planned, adequate POS, with fair distribution of costs for provision, upgrades, and maintenance. UDIA WA advocates for a balance between providing a consistent approach and consideration of the unique circumstances that exist within each walkable catchment of a proposed development. As drafted, the Draft Operational Policy 2.3 Planning for Public Open Space is another tax on infill development, and it fails to demonstrate the ‘need’ and ‘nexus’. UDIA WA is strongly opposed to the application of POS cash-in-lieu requirements to survey-strata, strata title subdivisions, and established estates – it should be explicitly stated in policy that local governments cannot require these cash-in-lieu conditions.

Public art positively impacts the public realm and contributes to fostering a local sense of place. It is essential that the purpose and application of public art policies are clearly and consistently defined through a WAPC directive, and that any contributions serve a clear planning purpose and do not render development unviable.

Public art policies should be limited to specific contribution areas where local government strategic planning has identified the value and merit for that locality, any residential development within a residential zone should be exempt and public realm upgrades should be considered a form of public art contribution as they serve a similar function in integrating developments into the public realm and deliver community benefit.

Schools are a central part of local communities, and it is important home purchasers have a clear understanding of when and where new schools are planned. The current approach to valuation support for school site contributions in Operational Policy 2.4 – Planning for school sites needs to be reviewed to better align with the need and nexus principles, and to reduce costs and resourcing burden created by the policy. The policy should provide for the valuation of a hypothetical school site in the locality rather than the valuation of the specific parcel of land being developed.

UDIA WA is broadly supportive of the intent of State Planning Policy 3.7 Bushfire (2024) and the improved outcomes for greenfield development. To ensure effectiveness however, UDIA WA advocates for changes to the Broader Landscape Assessment and culture change to ensure DFES, as a referral agency, is aligned with facilitating housing outcomes and supporting Government’s aspirations for population growth. The Broader Landscape Assessment component of the policy is causing uncertainty among proponents as it is overly vague and is being applied retrospectively to planning applications and undermining strategic planning objectives and District Structure Plans. The wording to describe potential development sites as “unacceptable” is also unhelpful.

Industry is committed to fostering a shared vision for state development and growth. There is a need for the State Government to think and act more holistically when it comes to delivering housing supply across the continuum, with all departments and agencies pulling in the same direction and doing their part. Overall responsibility for driving cultural change needs to be assigned, with appropriate accountability measures (Key Performance Indicators and metrics) for those departments and agencies that influence housing supply.

To support the successful delivery of the State Government’s growth and policy aspirations, and to ensure positive outcomes for local communities, UDIA WA supports Government and industry working more collaboratively on community consultation, engagement, and education in this context. A clear understanding within the community about the need to consolidate urban growth, deliver housing choice and maintain housing affordability can lead to greater acceptance of the changes and new development that is happening throughout the metropolitan area.

Ongoing labour and skills shortages within the residential construction industry significantly constrain capacity to deliver housing in Western Australia. While welcoming more people to Western Australia will likely put even more pressure on housing in the short term, attracting people with the right skills to the State will be critical to speed up housing delivery.

UDIA WA is supportive of State and Federal Government measures to attract skilled migrants to Western Australia, as well as investment in training and to ensure today’s apprentices remain in WA’s residential construction sector. UDIA WA also advocates for the development of a Construction Workforce Attraction and Retention Strategy, to include the establishment of a Construction Industry Labour Agreement.

UDIA WA supports modern methods of housing construction and advocates for investment by Government to support advanced construction practices and greater use of technology and digitisation to leverage significant opportunities to increase efficiencies, cost savings and delivery at scale. Providing opportunities to ensure housing innovation is harnessed and utilised in WA is crucial to futureproof our construction sector and deliver the homes needed now and into the future.

UDIA WA welcomed the State Government’s Housing Innovation Fund to provide a competitive grants process as well as a low interest loan facility to support the housing industry in fostering innovative solutions to deliver more housing.

To further innovative practices and as an accelerator for wider industry take up of new technology, processes, and materials, DevelopmentWA should act as a demonstrator of innovation, pushing the boundaries of current policy and practice.

When it comes to environmental approvals, the development industry is acutely aware of the importance of conserving our environment and strives to achieve high standards of environmental outcomes in projects, whilst delivering new homes to support our current population’s housing needs and the State Government’s growth aspirations for Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million.

UDIA WA strongly supports the establishment of a planning-led environmental decision-making framework to enable the delivery of new homes while protecting the environment.

UDIA WA advocates the implementation of regional planning for Perth and Peel, which considers matters of State and Federal significance, to provide clarity and certainty around which areas can be developed. This process should prioritise identified growth corridors where there is the opportunity to deliver the greatest housing supply.

UDIA WA strongly supports greater involvement of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and EPA services in strategic planning outside of statutory processes. This can be achieved through, the EPA working collaboratively with the WAPC to provide environmental advice earlier in the land use planning process, at District Structure Plan stage, to inform WAPC’s decisions and a strategic approach to the recognition of environmental assets and the avoid, mitigate or offset framework, as well as ensuring better integration of DPLH and DWER functions for united government view to industry.

UDIA WA strongly advocates the establishment of a strategic approach to biodiversity offset and restoration requirements to enhance environmental outcomes while facilitating delivery of diverse and affordable housing supply, supporting the State Government’s growth aspirations for Perth and Peel. This should involve a staged approach, with the coordination of land access for offsets and restoration being the first priority, followed by an independent body within the State Government coordinating the delivery of works associated with offset and restoration sites. This should be underpinned by the establishment of a strategic plan and funding model, addressing State and Federal requirements, to enable the consolidation of contributions from proponents to create lasting, scalable environmental benefits.

UDIA WA supports reform of the EPBC Act, which has caused delays and undermined project viability due to inconsistent application and governance, increasing costs and eroding confidence in the process. UDIA WA supports reform that follow the Samuels Review recommendations, with a collaborative approach between Federal and State Government and the private sector. However, significant issues remain in the proposed reforms that need to be addressed to ensure better outcomes for both development and the environment. It is essential the reforms consider the local and federal overlays to remove duplication, complexity and delays.

UDIA WA supports the reforms progressed by the State Government following the Vogel-McFerran Review, to streamline approvals and balance environmental protection with facilitating development, including for much needed housing supply.

UDIA WA supports the appropriate funding of the State Government’s DWER to be able to efficiently and effectively undertake environmental assessments to protect our rich environmental assets whilst also delivering improved development outcomes. The ‘user pays’ principle of cost recovery is broadly supported but charges must be commensurate with increased service provision and reduced assessment and approvals timeframes and should not adversely impact project viability or housing affordability.

UDIA WA acknowledges climate change as a pressing global issue that presents challenges and opportunities for the development industry. We are committed to working in collaboration with our members and stakeholders to respond to the challenges of climate change, while minimising the impact on housing affordability. Working together, the property development industry can create climate resilient developments and new and regenerated communities to enable thriving, sustainable places.

UDIA WA advocates fast track building and planning rules that promote rather than prohibit the use of carbon efficient/green credentialled materials, building products and development innovations so that housing builds and precincts can hit net zero.

Developers, builders, and purchasers of dwellings should be incentivised to invest in green technology that may only benefit downstream users or in the long term. Government should also prioritise innovation and sustainable practices to achieve Net Zero outcomes for government-led housing and development projects, and share lessons learned with industry.

UDIA WA encourages, recognises and showcases good practice in sustainable design by industry through the UDIA EnviroDevelopment Program, which is an independent certification system. It assessed sustainability performance of new development across water, energy, materials, waste, community and ecosystems.

UDIA WA is supportive of direct action by the State Government to increase urban greening, as well as the development of a comprehensive urban greening plan that provides certainty, clarity, and consistency as to the requirements for development across local governments.

The plan must be holistic and consider all aspects of urban greening, including, but not limited to, the role of all parties responsible for contributing to urban canopy, defining how current canopy is measured and future canopy projected based on trees being planted today.

A review of the current array of local and state government policies, which conflict with or prevent, the desire to enhance WA’s urban tree canopy, is required. A risk-based review of these policies should be undertaken against the significant community benefit to be obtained from an enhanced urban tree canopy, with the objective of reducing these impediments.

UDIA WA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians, not only of where we operate, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation, but those locations where our members are active across the state of Western Australia from the Yawuru people in Broome to the Menang people of Albany in the Southwest.

UDIA WA strongly believes in providing leadership to the broader urban development industry in respect to reconciliation and more meaningful engagement with the Traditional Owners and Custodians. In doing so, we are progressing the implementation of our first REFLECT RAP, which has been a fantastic opportunity to listen, learn and take meaningful action on our journey to reconciliation.

UDIA WA and the development industry have the utmost respect for Aboriginal heritage and acknowledge the need to protect identified sites and comply with the 1972 Act, which the industry has an important role in. In effectively working with WA’s Aboriginal heritage legislative framework and supporting timely delivery of much-needed housing supply, it is essential all parties understand their roles and responsibilities and that there is certainty early in the process around timeframes and desired outcomes.

UDIA WA supports the need for early and meaningful engagement with Traditional Owners and Aboriginal stakeholders, to recognise and appropriately respond to the presence of Aboriginal heritage, relevant to a development site. Such early engagement in the planning and delivery of urban development projects can lead to great outcomes not just for a site, but for the community as a whole.

Ground disturbance works for residential development should be allowed to continue without delay on sites with no identified Aboriginal heritage.

UDIA supported the equitable rebalancing of rights of appeal under the revised 1972 Act, ensuring Traditional Owners have equal rights to appeal a decision as industry has had for decades, as well as the establishment of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Committee to provide greater representation for traditional owners in overseeing the protection and management of cultural heritage interests across the State.

UDIA WA is supportive of the development and implementation of an integrated land use and mid-tier transit plan which provides high-frequency and high-quality connectivity to/from links key precincts across Perth to support well-located higher density development and increased liveability.

UDIA WA supports adoption of EVs as part of a more sustainable future. However, the onus should not be placed on the development industry to fund any shortfall in infrastructure which is not driven by or because of their activities.

Developers should consider EV charging as a component of site design to provide the back-boning infrastructure and/or the capacity to facilitate charging options later (this is the largest cost inhibitor for existing developments to install EV charging) but 1:1 charging infrastructure requirements for development approval is unjustified and not supported.

UDIA WA is supportive of State Government investment in infrastructure to support and encourage more people to walk and cycle. An important aspect of creating communities is considering the design of the public realm and how that will accommodate a diverse range of uses and people enjoying and moving through those places.

Features such as people focused streets and neighbourhoods are important for a range of reasons, including community vibrancy and connection, as well as for road safety and environmental sustainability in the potential reduction of private vehicle use.  UDIA WA supports developers exploring innovative approaches.