Second review of the Premises Standards 2010: survey

30 November 2020

Premises Standards Review Team,
Industry Growth Division,
Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources,
GPO Box 2013,
CANBERRA ACT 2601

Email: PremisesStandards@industry.gov.au

Re Response to Review Disability (Access to Premises – Building) Standards 2010

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for inviting the Registered Accommodation Association of Victoria Ltd (RAAV) to provide a response to your review of the Disability (Access to Premises - Buildings) Standards 2010 which includes the application of these standards to specified class 1b buildings.

Who is RAAV?

The Registered Accommodation Association of Victoria Ltd (RAAV) is the peak industry association for privately owned and operated rooming houses in the accommodation sector. RAAV has 130 members who operate over 400 or around a third of Victoria’s registered and legal Rooming
Houses.

About 85% of RAAV’s members operate Class 1b premises, with the remainder operating Class 3 rooming houses, therefore RAAV is well positioned to comment on the impact of the Premises standards on class 1b rooming houses. This review is directly relevant to operators of class 1b rooming houses who have been severely impacted by the application of this standard.

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Our experience

The Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standards 2010 implemented a different standard,
AS1428.1, for various building classes, including Class 1b, Class 2 where the accommodation is available for short-term rent, Class 3 and Class 5-10 buildings.

The stated purpose of the standards was to provide ‘‘a nationally applicable set of provisions that detail what must be done to provide for non-discriminatory access to public buildings for people with disability’’.

Class 1b rooming houses are the private homes of the residents and are therefore their principal place of residence as opposed to holiday style accommodation; They are not open to the public and are subject to the Residential Tenancies Act (1997) as a registered rooming house. In fact they are no different to living in a Class 1a premise that is not required to be compliant under the disability access provisions of the NCC.

We believe that the changes to Class 1b premises for disability access were not intended to capture medium to long term residential accommodation facilities provided to lower socio-economic and tertiary homeless people through Class 1b rooming houses. It is clear from reading the “Access All
Areas” report that these changes were targeted at the tourism industry. The examples given (both from Industry and advocates of disability access) discuss “bed and breakfasts” and “holiday accommodation”.

Since implementation of these standards, every person building or converting a building to a Class 1b rooming house has been required to meet AS1428.1, at significant additional cost, and for limited benefit. RAAV would note that the cost has been much higher than predicted in the “Access All Areas” report. Our experience in Victoria has shown that there has been a significant reduction in new registrations of rooming houses since the implementation of these standards, and more importantly, there has been significant growth in unregistered (i.e., illegal) rooming houses, thereby avoiding the need for disability conversion.

In short, Class 1b rooming houses are private residences and should therefore not be subject to the requirements of the Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standards 2010 as is the case for Class
1a buildings.

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Explanatory Statement

RAAV’s research and reading of the Explanatory Statement for the Disability (Access to Premises-
Buildings) Standards 2010 indicate that the standards may have been inappropriately applied to rooming houses, as these are private residences and should be excluded from the provisions.

The purpose of The Premises Standards is to provide a nationally applicable set of provisions
providing for non-discriminatory access to public buildings for people with a disability. It is
recorded in

 Paragraph 7 “that The Premises Standards undertakes this (as noted by the
Committee in relation to the draft Standards) by partially codifying the
requirements of Part 2 of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) setting detailed
requirements for the provision of non-discriminatory access to publicly accessible
premises”.

 Paragraph 36 “The DDA does not, however, apply to private residences per se,
although such a residence may be covered if, for example, it is used or associated
with the provision of facilities or offered for short-term rent”, and

 Paragraph 37 “Excluded from the scope of the Premises Standards therefore are
those Building Code Australia (BCA) building classes which are ordinarily reserved for
private residential uses. No requirements are imposed on Class 1a buildings
(generally detached private residences), Class 2 buildings which are not used for
short-term rent (generally apartment blocks and flats), or Class 4 buildings (private
residences attached to buildings of different classifications, such as a caretaker’s
residence)”.

Access to premises

Section 23 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1998 states the following -

 It is unlawful for a person to discriminate against another person on the ground of
the other person’s disability:

(a) by refusing to allow the other person access to, or the use of, any premises
that the public or a section of the public is entitled or allowed to enter or use
(whether for payment or not); or

(b) in the terms or conditions on which the first-mentioned person is prepared
to allow the other person access to, or the use of, any such premises; or

(c) in relation to the provision of means of access to such premises; or

(d) by refusing to allow the other person the use of any facilities in such
premises that the public or a section of the public is entitled or allowed to use
(whether for payment or not); or

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(e) in the terms or conditions on which the first-mentioned person is prepared
to allow the other person the use of any such facilities; or

(f) by requiring the other person to leave such premises or cease to use such
facilities.

We note that this is separate to Section 25, which specifically addresses issues of
accommodation, and these two areas are also treated differently in the guidance provided
on the Australian Human Rights Commission website.
Ref: (https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/disability-rights/dda-guide-ins-and-outs-access

And it is also noted that in the 2016 review report itself, in 2.1.3 – Other Issues:
Accommodation Buildings, under the section on residential housing, the review findings
state:

Access to private residences (Class 1a buildings) and the accessibility of the internal
parts of flats or apartments (Class 2 buildings) are generally not covered by the DDA
and are therefore not covered by the Premises Standards. This is why, in Class 2
buildings, access requirements are limited to common areas where one or more Sole
Occupancy Units are made available for short-term rent.”’
Ref: (https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/disability-rights/dda-guide-place-live)

Given that rooming houses are also private residences, with no public access, it seems
reasonable that they should also not be covered by the Premises Standards under Section 23
of the DDA, and instead be covered by Section 25, Accommodation, similar to other private
residences.

We believe that the purpose of the standards was to address the issue of access to premises
that are open to the public, including hotels, motels, backpackers and other forms of short-
term accommodation, rather than access to private residences such as rooming houses,
which are not open to the public.

Impact of Premises Standards on rooming house sector
In the 2016 review, as a response to RAAV’s evidence, supported by the Victorian Building
Authority and local councils, that the cost of conversions of Class 1a buildings to Class 1b
rooming houses, that the changes were responsible for a reduction in rooming house
conversions, a key source of affordable accommodation, at 2.1.1 it was recommended that:

“An expert advisory group consider whether conversion of Class 1a buildings to
specified Class 1b rooming/boarding houses has been affected by the Premises
Standards and the extent of any such effect and, if required, what further actions
should be undertaken”.

Unfortunately the 2020 review does not include details of the findings of this expert advisory
group from their further investigations on the scale of the issue.

From discussion with our members, RAAV can advise that the issue remains and that they
have observed several unintended consequences:

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 The cost of conversion is approximately $50,000- $80,000 due to the requirement for
a fully accessible bathroom and access,

 Challenges in complying with Premises Standards mean people now need to be much
more careful in selecting which buildings they convert, reducing the opportunity to
expand affordable accommodation,

 The alternative to conversion, getting an access consultant report, has risen in cost to
$15,000,

 Operators avoiding upgrades to existing premises that improve the liveability of the
premises, e.g. changing or increasing bathrooms, as any requirement for a building
permit will trigger the standards, and

 Anecdotally, members advise that, despite the introduction of licensing in Victoria
with severe penalties, there has been an increase in unlicensed and unregistered
rooming houses due to these costs.

Example 1:
A member with a Class 1b rooming house that provided one bathroom for 10 residents,
looked to upgrade the rooming house by renovating the bathroom and building a second
bathroom at a quoted building cost of $30,000. However, due to the need for a building
permit, this would trigger the Premises Standards, and require the second bathroom to be
accessible, all hallways and doors to be widened and ramps installed. The quoted cost rose
to $150,000 as it was considered a major renovation, and all residents would need to be
removed. This was not considered economic and the residents continue to share one
bathroom.

While these issues may not seem relevant to the issue of access for people with disabilities,
the very real result is a severe reduction in access to affordable accommodation for other
vulnerable and disadvantaged people in the community who are paying higher rents that
they can ill-afford, while providing facilities that they prefer not to use. As time goes on,
these properties will deteriorate and without renovation as in the example above, will lead
to a loss of amenity for current residents, and eventually they will be taken out of service,
leading to increased homelessness.

Consequences of accessibility requirements in rooming houses
While every rooming house conversion or new build created since 2011 has established
accessible accommodation by providing a fully accessible bathroom and bedroom, a survey
of RAAV members show that less than 1% of enquiries for accommodation have been from
people requesting disabled accommodation, and none of those enquiries have eventuated.
Where members have established 9-bed/9-bath purpose built rooming houses with a
disabled room with fully accessible ensuite, all operators have reported that -

a) this room has been the last room to rent,
b) the room has rented for $20-30pw less than comparable rooms, despite being
larger,
c) none of the rooms are rented to people with disabilities.

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RAAV understands that the reason for this is because specialist disability providers don’t
refer clients to rooming houses as clients with severe disabilities require on-site care and
assistance that isn’t available in a rooming house setting.

Premises Standards out of step with disability accommodation changes

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (Specialist Disability Accommodation Rules 2020
(SDA) has been introduced to address the specialised accommodation needs of people with
disabilities by creating bespoke accommodation tailored to specific occupants.

RAAV notes that rooming houses, despite having fully accessible rooms and bathrooms
available, are ineligible to apply for funding through the SDA program as registration is
restricted to premises with 5 or less occupants, while Class 1b rooming houses can
accommodate up to 12 residents.

Other reviews

The Australian Building Codes Board is currently undertaking an Accessible Housing Project
looking to introduce minimum accessibility standards for housing based on the Liveable
Housing Design Guidelines (LHDG) 2017, considering a number of different options.

Aligning the provisions for Class 1b rooming houses with the minimum accessibility
standards for housing being developed through this project would have a number of
advantages:

 consistent standards across Class 1a and Class 1b housing, making it easier and
cheaper to undertake a rooming house conversion
 LHDG standards are available free-of-charge and easier to understand and implement,
compared to the excessively strict requirements of AS1428
 Accommodation is more suitable to the broad range of rooming house residents,
providing better amenity that is more sought after by residents who dislike having a
disabled toilet with back rest and no lid that they can close to stop aerosol spray on
flushing to prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses. The importance of which has
been highlighted by the current COVID-19 pandemic. A shower screen is also preferred
to a shower curtain to prevent spreading water across the bathroom.

Perspectives on current review

While the current review is not directly relevant to the rooming house industry, we do believe that our input could be beneficial to your review.

1. Market complexity

We consider this standard has complexity into the market. While Class 1a and 1b buildings are considered similar and contained in the same part of the NCC, these changes will then mean different accessibility standards – Liveable Housing Australia guidelines versus AS1428.1 – for essentially the same housing product. This creates added complexity for owners, builders and certifiers, and therefore additional cost.

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2. Popularity

RAAV’s anecdotal feedback from members that provide self-contained rooms with ensuite is that rooms with full disability access are usually the last rooms to be rented in the rooming house, and generally receive lower rentals, as tenants prefer a standard bathroom. As noted previously, the rooms also do not attract tenants that need disability access.

Similarly, in properties with shared facilities, most residents try to avoid using the disabled bathroom due to issues with water spray from shower heads, putting additional pressure on other bathrooms.

3. Suitability

Another issue that isn’t addressed in the document, and more importantly in AS1428.1 which applies to rooming houses, is that ‘one size fits all’ is actually not the case regarding disability access in residential accommodation. As an example, in a shared bathroom environment in a rooming house, a fully disabled bathroom which is designed for a person in a wheelchair, can lead to excessive water across the bathroom floor following a shower, which then creates a risk of slipping and falling to someone else with mobility issues.

Similarly, the low level at which the hand basin and shower head are located to suit a person in a wheelchair, can create an issue for someone with back issues who may have difficulty bending over to access these.

4. Universal Access

AS1428.1 and the ‘Access all areas’ report are both based on the concept of ‘‘universal access’’ for people with disabilities to public spaces. To achieve this, they use a standardised set of standards to meet the needs of the most disabled, with the expectation that the remainder select either the standard or disabled facilities depending on their relative comfort. By contrast, when you are looking at facilities in private accommodation, the preferred option is to tailor any modifications to suit the needs of the individual, rather than a generic standard.

5. Targeted assistance

Following on from above, with the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and other programs, there are funding sources available to provide tailored home modifications to suit individual people with disabilities, and a growing market for the development of Specialist
Disability Accommodation (SDA) for those with high support needs.

Recommendations

Based on the Access All Areas report, RAAV considers that the Disability (Access to Premises –
Buildings) Standards which were intended for short-term holiday accommodation have been applied to rooming houses in error.

RAAV considers that there are some benefits in applying the ‘silver’ Liveable Housing Australia (LHA) standards to Class 1b and Class 3 rooming houses. This would align with a recent proposal by the ABCB to introduce the LHA standard to class 1a and class 2 buildings.

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Streamlining the NCC for Class 1a and 1b properties would reduce complexity for owners, builders and certifiers with having consistency between similar products, while also significantly reducing future costs in converting properties from Class 1a to Class 1b rooming houses. The benefits of this are two- fold:

1. Likely to lead to more rooming house operators converting properties, leading to an increase
in the supply of low-cost accommodation for vulnerable and disadvantaged residents; and

2. Less reliance on illegal unregistered rooming houses that don’t meet the NCC standards.

Based on the above RAAV recommends that Class 1B and Class 3 rooming houses and shared accommodation be exempted from the disability accessibility requirements under the National
Construction Code because they are residential premises and not public buildings.

This could be achieved for class 1b buildings by updating the definition of Class 1b buildings in the standard to the following example to incorporate short term holiday accommodation in the entire definition:-

specified Class 1b building means:
(a) a building that are used for short-term holiday accommodation; and
(i) is a new building with 1 or more bedrooms used for rental
accommodation; or
(ii) an existing building with 4 or more bedrooms used for rental
accommodation; or
(iii) is a building that comprises 4 or more single dwellings that are on the
same allotment.

SIMON ROBERTS
PRESIDENT

Registered Accommodation Association of Victoria Ltd
PO Box 504
North Melbourne 3051
Email: info@raav.org.au

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