Freezing reforms to the National Construction Code will hinder efforts to improve housing resilience against bad weather, the Insurance Council of Australia warns.

“The pause [on changes] could impose longer-term costs, as it will inevitably lead to delays to the amount of time people can quickly re-establish after an extreme weather event,” the peak body says in a submission to Treasury.

“In particular, climbing costs in vulnerable areas will continue to drive up risk and therefore the cost of insurance premiums, making insurance policies effectively unavailable for some communities.”

Treasury is consulting on ways to improve the NCC, and its consultation paper sought feedback on technology, innovation and other suggestions to streamline and modernise the guide. 

The consultation, which closes on Friday, comes after the federal government announced last year it will pause residential changes to the code until mid-2029, except for essential quality and safety measures.

The Insurance Council says the pause “risks continuing to expose individuals and communities to the effects of bushfires, damaging wind and extreme rainfall, and may disproportionately harm people living in high-risk zones, many of whom already face insurance affordability stress.

“ICA recommends the federal government prioritises work to develop and evaluate appropriate measures with industry to ensure we build homes better suited for extreme weather events, while also balancing the need to boost affordable housing supply.”

ICA says that following a building ministers meeting last year, it has been exploring peril-specific approaches to improve the resilience of future homes, including better cyclone proofing in northern Australia, the development of “voluntary standards” and opportunities to strengthen resilience standards at the state and local level. 

“Despite this, ICA continues to hold the view that there is a strong need for a more balanced approach at the national level between increasing housing supply and ensuring Australia’s future housing stock is constructed to more stringent performance requirements and not built in areas of high hazard risk,” the submission says.

“ICA acknowledges that the latter is outside of the NCC’s scope, but this policy challenge must be considered in parallel to building code reform.”