The amended Premises Standards and the NCC

The Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standards 2010 (Premises Standards) is a legislative instrument made under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA). Its purpose is to ensure people with disability have equal access to public buildings. To fulfill this purpose, the Premises Standards contain the Access Code for Buildings (Access Code). The Access Code specifies features that public buildings must have to facilitate access for people with disability. The Access Code is based on the NCC access for people with a disability provisions. 

The Premises Standards require building practitioners, including certifiers and developers, to ensure that buildings comply with the Access Code. Building practitioners must also ensure that buildings comply with the NCC. Therefore, the ABCB is careful to ensure that the requirements of the NCC align with those of the Access Code.

The Premises Standards were reviewed in 2021. This review led to amendments that were made on 23 November 2024. These amendments include changing the Access Code so that it references the 2021 edition of ‘AS 1428.1 Design for access and mobility’. (The previous version of the Access Code references the 2009 edition of AS 1428.1, as does the current NCC.) 

Being a legislative instrument, any amendment to the Premises Standards is subject to parliamentary processes. A claim made under an amended Premises Standards that has not completed this process could fail if the amendment were repealed. For this reason, the DDA specifies that amendments to the Premises Standards do not take effect until this process is complete. 

The amended Premises Standards were presented to the Senate on 26 November 2024. If the parliamentary process proceeds without a repeal, the amended Premises Standards will take effect. Until such time, the previous edition of Premises Standards remains the applicable version. Therefore, there is no current obligation to comply with the 2021 edition of AS 1428.1. 

Another thing to note is the difference in clause referencing systems between NCC 2022 and the Access Code. 

The NCC clause referencing system was changed in NCC 2022. Because the Access Code was developed in 2010, it uses the previous NCC referencing system. As a result, the corresponding provisions of the Access Code and the NCC Volume One have different clause references. 

Because the latest review of the Premises Standards occurred in 2021, before NCC 2022, the amended Access Code continues to use the previous NCC referencing system. The ABCB will issue guidance material to assist practitioners navigate the various clause referencing systems should the amended Access Code come into effect.