Australia’s Constitution and Building Regulations

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The Australian Constitution sets out the roles, responsibilities, and powers of the Australian Government. By standard convention, those matters which are not mentioned in the Constitution remain the responsibility of the States.

As the Constitution does not mention matters regarding the safety, health, and amenity of people in buildings, responsibility for them rests with the State and Territory Governments. This has led to 8 separate Acts of Parliament and 8 distinct building regulatory systems.

At various times, it has been even more complex, with some states passing on many of their building regulatory powers to their municipal councils, which effectively enacted their own building regulatory systems by way of council by-laws.