Industry Issues
Lead your Industry! UDIA WA Council Nominations
Nominations are now open for positions on the 2025 – 27 UDIA WA Council. Nomination will close on Monday 18 August 2025.
We are calling for leaders who want to contribute to work that matters, with people who care. The UDIA WA Council is a collective of leaders, passionate about delivering great places and housing choice for Western Australians to live, work, play and invest.
There are 12 elected members of Council, with a minimum of six to be Developer Members. This year, there are eight positions available for nomination and the role of President is also up for nomination this year.
The President and Councillors are appointed by nomination from member representatives. Terms are two years, with the option for current Councillors to re-nominate.
The eight newly appointed positions will join ongoing elected Councillors Richard Pappas (Celsius Property), Jane Bennett (CLE Town Planning & Design), Ryan Hunter (Parcel Property) and Andrew Wallis (Stockland).
In accordance with the Constitution, an additional two positions may be filled to address identified skill gaps in meeting the future strategic and governance needs of the organisation. Emma Kalo (ABN Group) and Michael Lawson (Northerly Group) will continue in these positions for the remainder of their respective two-year terms.
UDIA WA encourages applicants from a diverse range of professional backgrounds and experience to nominate for these leadership roles. Our goal is to establish and maintain a leadership group that reflects the diverse nature of the industry and the communities that we represent.
Successful nominees will be announced at UDIA WA’s Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 22 October 2025 at the UDIA WA offices from 11:30am.
Reviving the Great Australian Dream
UDIA WA CEO Tanya Steinbeck participated in a dynamic panel discussion on Wednesday morning hosted by the UWA Public Policy Institute entitled the Great Australian Dream: Home Ownership and Housing Security for All.
Tanya and fellow panellists Dr Paul Maginn, Professor Paul Flatau, Kath Snell (Shelter WA) and Kim MacDonald (The West Australian) explored the challenges and opportunities involved with this complex topic including policy settings, infrastructure planning and delivery, workforce shortages and demand side stimulus.
Each panellist was invited to publish a short provocation on the topic, and these have been published here.
Tanya’s piece entitled Advocating for the Unthinkable: Opening the Window to Housing for All, challenges government and stakeholders to think beyond what is considered politically ‘safe’ to drive real solutions to the challenges associated with soaring rents, unaffordable housing prices and an overall lack of housing choice.
These papers include a diverse range of ideas and recommendations from participants on how (or if) we can revive the dream of housing security.
Read more here.
Accelerating Smart Developments Report by Urbis and nbn
Developed in collaboration with nbn, Urbis have released the Accelerating Smarter Development Report which is designed to help developers overcome the potential challenges associated with embracing the use of smart technology by providing an overview of the key considerations involved.
Receiving input from industry partners, the report establishes the state of smart development in Australia, outlining the findings from extensive consultations across the country and throughout the development industry. It examines both the barriers and opportunities that surround smart development; and provides recommendations for industry and government to help accelerate smarter development.
The Accelerating Smarter Development Report aims to enable developers to integrate smart technologies into current and future projects to create more efficient, sustainable, and liveable places.
Two Weeks Left: The UDIA National Housing Pipeline® Developer Survey Window
The 2025 National Housing Pipeline® (NHP) Developer Survey is currently open and closes on COB Friday 15 August 2025. Launched earlier this month to our Western Australian developer members, the survey is part of a national roll-out of this crucial data collection phase of the UDIA National Housing Pipeline® (NHP) project.
Survey contributions are essential to ensure reporting remains robust, up-to-date, and influential. We have been delighted to receive many responses so far, and we would like to encourage all our developer members to complete the survey.
The annual NHP Developer Survey requests our property development members to provide data and status updates on all undeveloped land holdings and undeveloped portions of projects – which are intended to be developed for residential dwellings over the next ten years.
The data and insights generated by the UDIA NHP addresses a key gap in government’s understanding of ‘development-ready’ land supply and is a vital component to our ongoing advocacy and policy engagement.
As part of our improvements to the NHP program this year we have provided our developer members with a broader suite of supportive NHP survey materials, including a Step-by-Step Guide and we have also updated our Data Governance Policy which sets out the various protocols we have in place to ensure that NHP survey data remains secure and confidential throughout each NHP reporting cycle.
UDIA WA and UDIA National extends a very warm vote of thanks to all of our developer members who complete the 2025 NHP Developer Survey and encourage all queries and questions about the survey and the broader UDIA National Housing Pipeline® (NHP) project to be directed to UDIA WA’s Head of Research (and the NHP Project Lead) Toby Adams tadams@udiawa.com.au
UDIA WA thanks Chris Carman for his outstanding contributions
UDIA WA extends its sincere thanks to Chris Carman for his long-standing invaluable contributions as a committee member and contributor to UDIA WA Educate courses.
Leading the Project Management module, Chris has been a contributor to UDIA WA’s Professional Development programs since the inception of the Foundation of Property Development course, continuing into the newly launched Project Feasibility, Rosk and Finance in Property Development course.
He has served on the UDIA Infrastructure and CPD Committees and has delivered numerous papers and case studies to national conferences such as AIPM, UDIA and Engineers Australia. As the Managing Director of Benchmark Projects Australasia, Chris has been responsible for the successful delivery of the state’s most innovative projects including Joondalup City Centre, Mandurah Ocean Marina and Albany Waterfront.
We are deeply grateful for Chris’ contribution to supporting the next generation of professionals and helping shape the future of our industry through the sharing of his knowledge and expertise.
Find out about the full suite of UDIA WA Educate Courses here.
Armadale line to reopen in October
Earlier this week, the Federal and State governments announced that the Byford Rail Extension will open for passengers on Monday 13 October.
Part of the wider METRONET work on the Armadale line, the extension to Byford has included the new station in Byford – 46 minutes away from the Perth CBD – and a new elevated station in the centre of Armadale.
Federal Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King said, “this is a crucial transport link for Perth’s fast-growing south and will provide easy connections to buses and trains on the city’s broader public transport network.”
During the Armadale Line closure, the Public Transport Authority has also delivered the Rail Revitalisation Program, undertaking major maintenance between Kenwick and Sherwood stations.
Two new road over rail bridges at Thomas Road and Eleventh Road are among the other benefits being delivered through the Metronet expansion – including eight kilometres of new shared paths for pedestrians and cyclists.
Update on the new Department of Housing and Works
On July 1, the state government implemented a refreshed structure for government services. Part of these changes include the establishment of the Department of Housing and Works, led by Director General Leon McIvor.
The Department of Housing and Works will take over the Housing portfolio from the Department of Communities to oversee the construction, maintenance and refurbishment of public housing, and key infrastructure projects.
The transition of the Housing portfolio will take place over Stage 2 of the Public Sector Reform program – running from July to December 2025.
We look forward to learning more about these and other Machinery of Government changes at our breakfast event next Thursday featuring a keynote address from the Hon. John Carey MLA.
National Updates
The team at UDIA National have been busy engaging with the Federal Government in the lead up to a series of Roundtable discussions on reform priorities across a range of key areas.
UDIA National’s Submission will form the backbone of our response to the Federal Minister for Housing’s August Housing Productivity Roundtable in Melbourne, that will feed directly into the Treasurer’s Economic Reform Roundtable. Our key priorities include:
- Urgent Housing Strategies for the Environment – Clear the EPBC housing approval backlog, State & Federal aligned EPBC approvals
- Fast-Track Housing Infrastructure – Use existing funding to incentivise upfront enabling infrastructure or directly fund that infrastructure.
- Build the Homes we need – use the $10bn First Home Buyer (FHB) Initiative to deliver infrastructure or discounted FHB housing, freeze NCC reform for up to 5 years and restructure the process.
- Release More Land Supply – upfront Accord bonus incentives to halve planning/environmental approval times and to increase density
- Metrics and KPI’s for Government Departments, backed by verified supply data – nationwide housing delivery and affordability metrics, monitored with a housing performance platform like UDIA NHP.