It is great to rise and speak to the Building Legislation Amendment (Buyer Protections) Bill 2025, and it is great to talk again in this place around building legislation. I have spoken a couple of times on this topic, and that is because we have done some significant reforms in this space. We are undertaking these reforms to put consumers at the centre and to enhance protections for them when they are embarking on their building journey or renovating their homes. By introducing this bill today we do mark another pivotal step towards ensuring that those home owners receive the protections that they need, deserve and rightly expect when they are building or renovating.

It is a significant milestone for anyone to undertake to build or renovate. I myself have renovated a couple of renovator’s delights that we have bought. I have done them up, put new kitchens in them and really enjoyed the process actually. Luckily I have a hubby that is quite handy at doing renovations, but we have also just embarked on the first time we have ever built. We had a private builder – an incredible builder that talked us through the whole process from start to finish – and it was a really seamless and not a stressful process at all. Everyone said, ‘Oh my goodness you’re building, it will be the worst time of your life.’ It was actually the most enjoyable, having a terrific builder who stepped us through the process but also created a beautiful and wonderful home for us. I do not think anyone on this side has actually classified the whole industry as being full of dodgy builders. That is not what we have said on this side. This bill is about targeting dodgy builders, but we know that the majority of the builders here in Victoria do build wonderful homes for families. However, that is not to say that there are not challenges. When construction does fall short there need to be those protections and avenues that consumers can access to make sure that they have the end product that they were rightly expecting.

I would like to talk a little bit about what the bill will do. We as a government announced that we would establish the Building and Plumbing Commission. This would be a robust regulatory body designed to oversee the building and plumbing industry across the whole state. A new commission is about consolidating the regulation, the insurance and the disputes into a single agency and streamlining that. By centralising these aspects the commission aims to provide a more cohesive and efficient approach to safeguarding home owners and their interests. Why did we need to do this? This is about implementing reforms to put consumers at the heart and uphold their rights. We wanted to ensure accountability. It was about holding builders and developers to stringent standards and enforcing a culture of accountability. We also wanted to give consumers peace of mind that home owners can embark on a building or renovation project with confidence. When there are disputes, we need to consolidate those functions into a single commission where consumers can go for a really straightforward process, reducing all those bureaucratic hurdles that home owners may face.

This is more than just a policy. We do in this place debate policy and debate bills all the time, but this actually has real-life consequences for Victorians. It is about ensuring that when you have that excitement of building a new home it is not overshadowed with all those challenges. It gives people that peace of mind. As I have said, this is about building a watchdog, and it gives enforcement powers to the Building and Plumbing Commission. Currently that is all managed by other authorities, including the VBA, the Victorian Building Authority; there are also other responsibilities under the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority, and then we have Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria. By creating this one-stop shop for consumers this will be a lot easier for homebuyers and renovators. It will even be easier for practitioners and builders to have one commission. It is about enforcement as well. If serious defects identified by this commission are not rectified, then the regulator can stop the issuing of occupancy permits or the completion of off-plan sales. It is about ensuring that they have teeth and that they are able to help consumers navigate those complaints that may occur.

The bill also establishes two different types of financial safety net. First will be the first-resort domestic building warranty – that is for buildings three storeys and below – and then the developer bond scheme for buildings more than three storeys high. The first-resort domestic building warranty will allow homebuyers to make a claim when building issues are first identified. Then of course they are not there for consumers to face huge out-of-pocket costs for fixing defects later on. For buildings four storeys or above this bill is about taking the first steps to introduce a fair system. It introduces a developer bond scheme, which is very similar to a rental bond. Under the scheme the developer pays a bond, which is held by the regulator. If serious building issues are not addressed by the developer or the builder, that money can be released to pay for rectification works.

We have all read about, had constituents come to us about or seen in the public media or in the public sphere horrible experiences with builders. I have had constituents who have spoken to me about their experiences. One in their email stated to me that when going through a really difficult time with their builder not only was there the financial pressure that that put on that family but he said the emotional stress was even worse. He felt not just that he had lost his money but that he had lost his dream – that dream to own a home, and a new home. We have seen it before when, after months of searching – it is a process – families or an individual will find a builder who promises to build their dream home. Contracts are signed, foundations are poured and frames are put up. The process starts, and it is the beginning of something very exciting and wonderful for families, but that can turn very quickly. A builder can miss a deadline; work sites can be deserted. If you can get in touch with a dodgy builder, you might hear all the excuses under the sun about what they are doing. You have a home that then has defects all through it – I do not know; roofs may leak and doors might not close – and families are left with nowhere to go and their dream has been absolutely shattered.

We are talking about dodgy builders who deliberately try to cut corners. I am not sure of the reasons why – probably cost cutting. This is why we need consumer protections. This bill is the first step in sweeping an overhaul over the building regulation system – one that, like I said at the start, puts consumers at the centre, not dodgy operators. It does also lay the foundation for a modern, accountable industry where builders who cut corners have nowhere to hide.

This very much supports an industry that we know is growing in Victoria, and we know we are committed to more housing across the state. We have a big housing agenda. We know most builders do the right thing, and we are very much in support of them. But in the industry there are bad apples. There is always a bad apple in the industry, and they tarnish the profession. They leave families to pay the price, and this is about having protections for our consumers.

This new Building and Plumbing Commission really will consolidate, as I said, the regulation, insurance and disputes into a single entity. This is really to address where consumers are having to navigate so many different systems, so many different agencies. This will put everything together in a one-stop shop, so it will be absolutely more efficient for consumers when they are on that journey if there are challenges that they face. We want people to be able to go on that journey of building their new home with excitement, with protections but also with an understanding that they will get the house that they are expecting and that they have paid for. But if there are issues, then they have a place to go to support them. I commend the bill to the house.