Industry Issues
2026-27 UDIA WA Council declared
Your UDIA WA Council for 2026-27 has been declared at the 54th UDIA WA Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 21 October 2026.
We congratulate the newly appointed Council Member Priya Correia (Mirvac), alongside reappointed Council Members including Vice President Ryan Hunter (Parcel Property), Jane Bennett (CLE Town Planning + Design) and Andrew Wallis (Satterley).
They join the continuing Councilors including President Grant Shepherd (Hesperia), Vice President Greg Rowe (Rowe Group), Treasurer Adam Shepherd (Okeland Communities), Carl Buckley (Peet), Dave Wilson (WS Collective), Emily Young (Purple), Ben Killigrew (MNG), Louise Nazareth (Stockland), Emma Kalo (ABN Group) and Michael Lawson (Northerly Group).
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to outgoing Council Members including Immediate Past President Richard Pappas (Celsius Property Group) and Council Observer Tiffany Allen (Urbis, formally CTF) for their service and contribution to the Institute.
The UDIA WA Council is pivotal in driving our Strategic Plan and leading the organisation. Their efforts, alongside our member volunteers and team, to shape practical reform to unlock housing supply are highlighted in our Annual Report.
EPBC Act Changes & Member Information
Australia’s environmental approval framework is entering a significant period of change, with key reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act taking effect from 1 December 2026.
These changes are set to influence how development projects are assessed and approved, with implications for proponents, consultants, government agencies and the broader development industry.
Following initial changes that already commenced earlier in 2026 including the establishment of the National Environmental Protection Authority (NEPA) and the Environment Information Australia (NIA) on 1 July 2026; and Tranche 1 of reforms taking effect from February 2026; the next tranche of reforms taking effect from December include:
- Streamlined Approvals
- Legal definitions of unacceptable Impacts & threshold rules for matters protected under Part 3 of the Act that cannot be offset
- Mandatory application of finalised National Environmental Standards (NES including the MNES Standard, Environmental Offsets Standard, Community Engagement Standard, and Data and Information Standard.
- Implementation of the Net Gain environmental offset Standardand restoration contribution framework.
- Bioregional Planning tools
- Tougher Compliance & Penalties
To assist members in understanding the new reforms including what they mean in practice, and to discuss the opportunities and challenges for the sector, UDIA WA is hosting a FREE Member Briefing on Wednesday 9 December.
To find out more and register to attend, visit here.
Member feedback sought: Proposed duties on Chinese aluminium windows and doors
Following an investigation into the alleged dumping and subsidisation of aluminium windows and doors exported to Australia from from China, initiated in November 2025, the Australian Trade Remedies Commission has made an interim decision on Chinese aluminium windows and doors. Importers must now provide security against potential duties for affected imports entered for home consumption from 15 October 2026, while a final decision remains pending.
The published effective security rates are:
| Exporter | Effective Rate |
| Altop | Not applicable |
| Broad | 24.4% |
| Guangdong Kete | 21.1% |
| Zhuhai Yipeng | 51.6% |
| Foshan AMJ | 5.3% |
| Yuanjiang | 34.8% |
| Residual exporters | 24.4% |
| Uncooperative and all other exporters | 73.3% |
We want to understand the additional costs members would face on your projects if final duties were imposed at these levels, and the likely implications for supply, project feasibility and delivery.
UDIA National has already had positive initial engagement with the Federal Trade Minister Tim Ayres to raise concerns with this decision and we now need your help to further quantify the impact and describe the technical issues ahead of future engagement.
Please reach out to the Policy Team to share any estimated cost increases, supplier advice, project examples, or other immediate impacts that can help inform our advocacy to the Commonwealth Government. We are particularly interested in the availability (or not) of alternative sources of these products in the domestic market.
We kindly ask members to contact the Policy Team by 12 noon Monday 26 October.
For more information, read the Australian Trade Remedies Commission decision.
Timber Insights: Timber in Action Tour
WoodSolutions and Timber Insights are inviting UDIA WA members to their Timber In Action Tour for a full day behind the scenes of Perth’s timber built homes and developments. On Thursday 19 November, visit five projects to meet the people bringing timber construction to life and discover what’s possible with timber and prefabrication.
Get insights from the builders and designers at:
- Zen Living, South Perth
- Halcyon Illyarrie, Sinagra
- Saltus Built, Trigg
- Northerly, Nara Development, Beaconsfield
- Darklight & Ron Clarke Homes, Kensington
The tour is ideal for anyone involved in the delivery of residential built form that wants to see versatility of timber in action, from mass timber and CLT to prefabricated timber frame systems.
Date: Thursday 19 November
Time: 8:00am – 5:00pm
Location: The tour will depart and return to Crown Perth
Spots are limited, secure your place on the tour and register.
Planning underway to upgrade Subiaco Water Resource Recovery Facility
The State Government has committed $105 million to fund detailed plans, and initial site preparations, to upgrade the Subiaco Water Resource Recovery Facility in Shenton Park.
One of Perth’s oldest wastewater treatment plants, the facility treats the wastewater from 120,000 homes and businesses from Scarborough to North Fremantle and east to Maylands. Under the plan, the capacity of the upgraded plant will be increased by 23 million litres per day, supporting 60,000 new homes across infill redevelopments at Subi East, Belmont Park Racecourse and Fremantle Port.
BCEC September Labour Market Update
The Bankwest Curtin Economic Centre (BCEC) have released their monthly labour market update for September. Based on the Australian Bureau of Statistic’s most recent Labour Force Survey, with analysis provided by BCEC Director Professor Alan Duncan and BCEC Principal Research Fellow Mike Dockery, key findings from the latest report include:
- the national unemployment rate hits 4.7%;
- the labour market softening faster than predicted by the RBA;
- jobs fall in NSW, but surge in WA.
Read the September Labour Market update.
38 social homes delivered ahead of schedule using prefabricated components
Leveraging the use of prefabricated components, PARC Developments and Tyrone Group have delivered 38 new social housing units eight months ahead of schedule in North Coogee as part of a $23.5 million joint Cook and Albanese Labor Government social housing project.
Allowing for the project to be completed in 14 months, prefabricated bathroom pods and masonry wall panels were assembled offsite at Tyrone Group’s Neerabup facility and trucked to North Coogee while siteworks were underway.
Supported by the Federal Government’s $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator Payment fund, the newly completed project is comprised of 12 one-bedroom, two studio and 24 two-bedroom apartments.
Copenhagen Circular Economy Study Trip – Applications Open
How does a city truly put the circular economy and urban sustainability into practice? Join Circular San Antonio’s May 2027 study trip to Copenhagen to go beyond the case studies and uncover the answers.
This isn’t a conference. It’s a 1-week immersion experience exploring real world implementation of circular economy and urban sustainability initiatives and infrastructure.
The exclusive study trip is open to professionals from across Australia passionate about shaping greener, more sustainable urban environments.
- Dates: May 23 – 30, 2027
- Deadline: November 30, 2026
- Cost: $6,500 AUD per person (7 nights all inclusive except flights)
This opportunity is a collaborative effort between Circular San Antonio (USA), &/OR (AUS), and several Danish partners.
For more information, and to apply for the 2027 study tour, visit Circular San Antonio.
Enquiries can be directed via email to Christopher Moken at delegations@circularsanantonio.org.
National Updates
Senate inquiry into housing tax changes welcomed, UDIA warns of supply risks
UDIA supports the Senate’s decision to scrutinise the Federal Government’s proposed changes to capital gains tax (CGT) and negative gearing. Unresolved concerns risk discouraging critical investment in infrastructure and undermining the delivery of new homes across Australia as we work to address the housing shortage.
UDIA National President Oscar Stanley said the inquiry provides an important opportunity to examine the proposed legislation in greater detail and address concerns raised by industry.
“This is a critical inquiry because it is clear that the current housing tax settings simply don’t make the grade and are jeopardising the financial stability of the very organisations we rely on to build our cities and housing,” Mr Stanley said.
Read UDIA National’s media release.
UDIA National Submission: Tranche 3 Consultation
UDIA has made a submission commenting on the third stage (Tranche 3) of regulations supporting Australia’s recent environment protection reforms that are prosed to commence from 1 December 2026.
The submission highlights that there is insufficient detail to tie the standards to certainty of operation.
It is clear that the certainty will come from UDIA’s direct collaboration with the EPA CEO on the protocols they will use to implement the standards.
The four consultation papers released for public comment lack the details required to provide a true position on how these matters will operate in practice:
- Streamlining Single Project Approvals – Industry supports revision of the assessment process, but more detail is needed on what a proponent must provide for a streamlined process.
- Enabling Landscape-Scale Approval Pathways– Industry supports strategic assessment & bioregional planning approaches but landscape approaches must be designed to reduce duplication and repetitive project by project processes for environmental issues already considered.
- Delivering New Compensation Options – Industry is supportive of restoration contributions & creating greater flexibility for achieving offsets, but timeframes for spending the contributions need careful thought to ensure funds are directed to the best outcomes, not simply meeting admin deadlines.
- Other Consequential Changes – the update of publication processes need to be simple where there is not a contested step in the approval process.
View UDIA National’s submission on Tranche 3 Consultation.
UDIA National Submission: National Construction Standards
UDIA National welcomes the National Construction Standards (the Standards) with several key recommendations below. Industry supports the Standards to ensure we have a framework that promotes productivity, integrity and good governance for all including third party actors.
We need a framework that ensures every party plays its role appropriately. The Standards should hold to account those who do not, by enforcing the law through a regulator with the expertise and resources to act.
This has to be done without adding to the maze of paperwork and processes that already burdens the industry.
UDIA have made four core suggestions to improve the Standards:
- Hold all actors including Government & Government clients to the same standard as contractors
- Allocate risk fairly and keep security proportionate.
- Establish a construction regulator with the expertise and resources to act.
- Make targeted Fair Work Act changes, not a second industrial system.
View UDIA National’s submission on the National Construction Standards.