Wednesday, 17 August 2022

Environment and Planning Committee

Inquiry into Apartment Design Standards

Ms CONNOLLY (Tarneit) (10:09): I rise to talk about the committee report on the inquiry into apartment design standards. As the previous chair of the Environment and Planning Committee, it is wonderful to be able to stand here this morning and talk about the really great policy recommendations and outcomes that resulted as part of this inquiry.

What we know is that according to the recent census data over 1.4 million occupied dwellings in Australia are currently some form of flat or apartment. We know that more and more Victorians are opting to live in apartments, and that is for many different reasons, including lifestyle. With Victoria set to reach a population of 11.2 million by 2056 it is safe to say that high-density living is going to be a growing fixture of our housing mix going forward. Today you will see in inner-suburban areas like South Yarra or even Footscray in the western suburbs high-rise apartments that just did not exist 15 to 20 years ago. Indeed what this tells us is that our city is changing, our state is changing, and we must change with it.

What we learned from the pandemic is that the design of apartment buildings has had a profound impact on people’s health and wellbeing. Even things like how much space a room has or a bedroom has or whether there is sufficient ventilation and daylight have become questions that residents and folks living in these apartments have started to ask themselves. I think all of us here in this chamber can point to someone that we know or talk about a story that we have heard or even point to media articles talking about some of the apartments in the past that have been designed that you would struggle to even swing a cat in. We often refer to them as dog boxes.

One of the great things this government has done—and I have to pay tribute to the former planning minister, the member for Richmond—is gone ahead and reviewed apartment design standards and worked out what we can do better. What we actually did was roll out the Better Apartments Design Standards, the BADS. There is a huge pipeline of apartments currently under construction. Some have come onto the market and some will soon come onto the market that have been built under these BADS. We know that those apartments are likely to be built in a much better way than previous ones that were built before the BADS existed. This inquiry heard from many, many stakeholders right across the state that came to talk to the committee about apartment design standards and how we can do it better that the BADS will make a difference and what else we can do in going that step further to improve apartments and the quality of living and the standard of living that people either renting or buying into apartment living are experiencing.

The report does acknowledge—and it is really important to state this—that not enough time has actually passed to fully assess the impact of the BADS. We know from this inquiry that, yes, they have made a positive impact on designs of apartments, but the inquiry also highlighted what we need to look at now to ensure that new apartments are going to continue to be more livable for their tenants. So we looked at things like a minimum size for apartments, ensuring they get enough sunlight, making sure the apartment has sufficient ventilation and accessibility for people with disabilities—making sure that doorways are wide enough for people that may in fact be in a wheelchair or on a walker. There were a whole host of other standards that, whilst we tend not to think about them even when we go to buy an apartment, are actually so important for residents living in apartment spaces. The report also looks at sustainability and how future designs can factor in sustainable, environmentally friendly standards.

As a previous chair of the committee I do want to give a huge shout-out to the members for Mornington, Yan Yean, Box Hill, Burwood, Eildon and Ovens Valley for their contribution to this inquiry. I also want to thank Igor Dosen and the rest of the secretariat for their hard work in preparing the report. These reports could not be prepared without the hard work of staff. That is why it is really important that we continue to make sure that the standards that are going to regulate our apartments continue to keep up with the living standards and expectations that Victorians have around modern living.