Housing output per hour worked is half its 1995 level. The Productivity Commission found no comparable decline in any other Australian industry.
PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION · FEB 2025 ↗ AUSTRALIA'S HOUSING CODE
2,200 PAGES.
OR 80.
FLIP TO 80 PAGES
One proposal. One test: can a simpler code help Australia build more?
2,200-PAGE CODE · 980K HOMES
−220KNHSAC SHORTFALLSCENARIO · NOT A FORECAST
NHSAC OUTLOOK980,000220,000 BELOW THE ACCORD TARGET
OUTPUT PER HOURHALFOF 1995 LEVELS · PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION
SCROLL TO TEST ↓
REPORTED CODE SIZE2,200+ → 80SENATE INTERIM REPORT · AUG 2026
HOMES BUILT PER HOUR WORKEDHALVEDSINCE 1995 · PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION
NCC CHANGES ADDED, 7 YEARS$3.6K–$33KPER DETACHED HOUSE · SENATE EVIDENCE
1.2M ACCORD TARGET EXPECTEDEND-203018 MONTHS LATE · NHSAC REVISION
01
WEIGH THE RULEBOOKS
THE PAGE
WAR.
Every bar uses the same scale. The small green bar is Bragg's proposed mandatory core for a safe house.
KAREN O'NEILL
2,200+PAGES
→980KNHSAC OUTLOOK
2,200+
700+
332
~200
83
80
SOURCES: ABC NEWS · SENATE INTERIM REPORT · HIA / NZ BUILDING CODE · SAME LINEAR SCALE THROUGHOUT
STACK HEIGHT22 cm → 8 mmFrom a block of paper to a drink coaster
READING TIME AT 2 MIN / PAGE73 hrs → 2.7 hrsFrom nine working days to under three hours
PRINTED WEIGHT, SINGLE-SIDED A411 kg → 0.4 kgFrom 11 kilograms to less than half a kilogram
HONESTY CHECKCAN 80 PAGES DO IT?Today's fire-safety sections alone exceed 80 pages, while the NCC's core performance requirements fit in about 73. A short mandatory core may be possible, but Bragg's finished draft is not yet public.
02
WHAT THE BLOAT COSTS
MORE CODE,
FEWER HOMES.
As the rulebook grew from about 200 pages to more than 2,200, housing construction weakened on every measure below. These are reported figures, not outputs from this model.
Average approval-to-completion time rose from 8.5 months in 2014 to 12.7 months in 2024, adding more than four months of holding costs.
IPA ANALYSIS OF ABS DATA ↗Even after adjusting for larger, higher-quality homes, productivity fell while the wider economy grew by roughly a quarter.
PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION ↗Construction generates 7.6% of GDP and employs about 1.3 million Australians. Falling productivity raises costs across the economy.
RBA · ABS ↗Australia added around 1.8 million people and 550,000 dwellings. At 2.6 people per home, population growth outpaced supply by roughly 140,000 homes.
BRAGG NPC ADDRESS, FROM ABS DATA ↗The average residential building firm employs fewer than two people. Small firms must absorb each code update with limited compliance capacity.
PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION ↗THE RECEIPT.
The average Australian dwelling costs $1,111,100 (RBA, June 2026). These are some of the pressures built into that price before a single brick is laid.
These reported estimates overlap and cannot be added together. They show separate cost pressures, not a total. Bragg argues that the federal government can directly reduce the cost of code compliance.
AUSTRALIAN DREAM PTY LTDTAX INVOICE · NEW HOUSE & LANDAVG DWELLING PRICE ····· $1,111,100
GOVT TAXES, CHARGES & FEESUP TO 50%
7 YRS OF NCC CHANGES+$3.6K–33K
CFMEU COST INFLATION (BUILD)UP TO +30%
WAITING (APPROVAL → KEYS)12.7 MO
GOLD PLATINGMANDATORY
** CURRENT SETTINGS **COST PRESSURES REMAIN.
03BRAGG'S
WHERE THE 80 COMES FROM
BRAGG'S
80-PAGE
CHALLENGE.
At the National Press Club on 12 August 2026, Andrew Bragg proposed an 80-to-90-page Basic Australian Standard. Structure, fire safety, health and basic amenity would remain mandatory; other requirements would become optional. He also proposed a federal pattern book of pre-approved homes to support faster state approvals. New Zealand's building code runs to 83 pages.
This is a policy framework, not a finished replacement code. The full text, costings and an independent supply forecast are not yet public, and implementation would require state support.
READ THE ABC EXPLAINER →
AUSTRALIAN SENATE · INTERIM REPORT: HOUSING
AUSTRALIAN
SENATE
SENATE
Interim report: HousingSELECT COMMITTEE ON PRODUCTIVITY IN AUSTRALIA
AUGUST 2026
80PAGES
80–90 PAGE CORE PROPOSED
04ASK
INTERACTIVE POLICY EXPLAINER
ASK
BRAGGBOT.
Ask where the numbers come from, what remains mandatory, or how much the code affects housing supply.
BRAGGBOTSOURCE-GUIDED · ONLINE
CURATED ANSWERS FROM THE LINKED EVIDENCE · NOT A GENERAL-PURPOSE AI
05THE
THE
CHOICE.
Two approaches to the same housing problem.
STATUS QUO PATH
LABOR · CLARE O'NEIL2,200+FULL NCC PAGES
Patch the old machine.
Labor has paused non-essential residential code changes and is reviewing simplification. The current multi-volume code remains in force.
- 1.2M-home target now not expected until end of 2030 — 18 months late
- Non-essential residential code changes paused, but only until mid-2029
- NSW alone projected 118,000 homes short of its share of the target
BRAGGANOMETER ENDORSEMENT
LIBERAL · ANDREW BRAGG80PAGE MANDATORY CORE
Back the clean break.
The Bragganometer backs a mandatory core builders can read, costs buyers can see, and outcomes measured in homes built.
- Structure, fire, health and basic amenity remain mandatory
- A federal pattern book would support faster approvals
- New Zealand shows a much shorter code is possible; Australia's draft is still unpublished
06THE CASE,
THE CASE,
SOURCED.
The strongest pro-Bragg argument is the one that survives contact with the evidence. Reported facts and Bragg's own claims stay clearly labelled.
OFFICIAL−50%
HOMES BUILT PER HOUR WORKED SINCE 1995
The Productivity Commission's own estimates: physical productivity in housing construction has halved in 30 years, and even quality-adjusted labour productivity fell 12% while the wider economy grew.
PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION · FEB 2025 ↗OFFICIAL220K
THE FIVE-YEAR HOUSING SHORTFALL
NHSAC's outlook of roughly 980,000 homes sits 220,000 below the 1.2 million National Housing Accord target — and in August 2026 the expected finish date slipped again, to the end of 2030.
NHSAC · ABC NEWS · 21 AUG 2026 ↗OFFICIAL$3.6–33K
WHAT SEVEN YEARS OF NCC CHANGES ADDED
Evidence to the Senate productivity inquiry put the cost of recent code changes at $3,600 to $33,000 per detached house. No official body has yet modelled how many homes removing that cost would unlock.
SENATE INQUIRY EVIDENCE · 2026 ↗REPORTED2,200+
THE CURRENT FULL CODE
ABC reporting puts the total NCC above 2,200 pages, including more than 700 pages of state and territory variations. The section a standard house actually uses is reported at 332 pages — and the fire sections alone exceed 80.
ABC NEWS · 12 AUG 2026 ↗REPORTED+50%
TIME TO BUILD A HOUSE, 2014–2024
Average approval-to-completion time for a detached house rose from about 8.5 months in 2014 to 12.7 months in 2024, per IPA analysis of ABS data. FY2025 eased to 11.5 months — still far above the pre-COVID norm.
IPA · ABS BUILDING ACTIVITY ↗PROPOSAL80–90
BRAGG'S MANDATORY CORE
An 80-to-90-page Basic Australian Standard covering structure, fire safety, health and basic amenity, modelled on New Zealand's 83-page code, plus a federal pattern book. Announced at the National Press Club, 12 August 2026.
ABC NEWS · 15 AUG 2026 ↗The code grew elevenfold while housing output per hour worked halved. Give Bragg's proposal a proper test: publish the draft, cost it independently and judge it by homes built. This site backs the ambition and sources every reported figure.