First Reading

Bill introduced on motion by Mr Anoulack Chanthivong, read a first time and printed.

Second Reading Speech

Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG (Macquarie Fields—Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology, Minister for Building, and Minister for Corrections) (20:15): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I am pleased to introduce the Fair Trading and Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2026. This bill introduces miscellaneous amendments to 22 Acts across the Better Regulation and Fair Trading, and Building portfolios. Collectively, the amendments enhance consistency across licensing and regulatory schemes, improve clarity for consumers and industry participants, and strengthen the tools available to regulators in carrying out their statutory responsibilities. This is achieved through enhancing industry confidence through effective regulation of the building industry, strengthening consumer protection laws such as ensuring regulators can keep unsuitable industry players out of key industries, and making amendments that clarify the intent of the legislation or tighten language to ensure licensing frameworks are effective and fit for purpose. Through this bill, the Minns Labor Government continues to demonstrate its commitment to delivering for New South Wales consumers and ensure that laws are not only responsive to change but also clear, accurate and reliable.

I will now turn to the amendments in the bill. The bill amends various pieces of legislation to enhance industry confidence through effective regulation of the building industry. Schedule 1 to the bill amends the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 by renaming the term "business day" to "working day", without altering its meaning or application. Currently, the definition of "business day" in this Act is different to the meaning of "business day" within the Interpretation Act 1987, so this inconsistency needs to be rectified. Schedule 2 to the bill amends the Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018 to ensure disciplinary actions against certifiers can be taken even when a certifier has ceased to be registered at the time action is taken. This amendment will prevent registered certifiers from being able to surrender their registration to prevent disciplinary action being taken against them. It will ensure that proportionate and appropriate regulatory action can be taken against those who do the wrong thing.

I turn now to schedule 8. The bill amends the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 to remove the existing 12‑month limitation on the regulation‑making power to exempt persons or types of work from insurance requirements under the Act. Building practitioners are currently exempt from holding professional indemnity insurance as there are no available insurance products to satisfy their legislative requirements. Without this exemption, building practitioners would need to cease work on regulated buildings, namely classes 2, 3 and 9c, causing significant delays to the delivery of housing across New South Wales. The existing scope of the regulation‑making power requires the exemption to be remade every 12 months.

Concerns have been raised by the Legislative Council's Delegated Legislation Committee that the scope of the regulation‑making power allows for only a one‑off 12‑month period exemption. The removal of the existing 12‑month limitation will address those concerns and ensure building practitioners continue to be exempt from professional indemnity requirements for an appropriate period until the market develops a complying product, providing certainty to industry. Schedule 11 amends the Home Building Act 1989 by allowing the secretary to vary, suspend or cancel an authority if the holder is not qualified to hold the authority—more commonly referred to as a licence. Enabling an authority to be varied, including by removing a category of work, ensures an authority in its entirety is not cancelled, as is currently required under the Act. Where enforcement action is proposed to be taken, procedural fairness will be afforded to all individuals as part of the process. The amendment ensures targeted and proportionate action can be taken by the regulator. Schedule 11 also replaces the former Home Building Administration Fund with a new Building Administration Fund under the Home Building Act 1989. This is an administrative change to improve governance of Building Commission NSW revenue streams. There will be no additional impost on industry as all categories of revenue to be collected under the fund are already being collected under the Home Building Act and other legislation. The proposed change relates to where funds go and how they can be accessed.

I turn now to schedule 16. The bill amends the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020 to extend the scope of information that can be shared regarding the administration of building legislation and the investigation or prosecution of offences against the laws of the State, the Commonwealth, or another State or Territory. The bill also expands the definition of "relevant agency" to include bodies such as the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Australian Taxation Office.

The bill marks an important step forward towards greater protection for apartment owners against major defects. In the wake of the Mascot Towers and Opal Tower incidents, decennial liability insurance was introduced in 2022 with bipartisan support as an alternative to the Strata Building Bond, with the hope that a suitable insurance product covering major defects in the common property for 10 years would be brought to market. To date, no such product has been approved. Therefore, this bill seeks to amend the legislation to enable the approval of decennial liability insurance, providing a significant increase in protections for consumers. Schedule 19 to the bill amends section 211AA of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 to insert a definition of "relevant defect" for the purpose of decennial insurance. This removes the reliance on the serious defect definition as defined in the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020 that is best suited to enforcement action by the Building Commission NSW.

The amendment ensures that the new definition of relevant defect reflects the intended purpose of decennial liability insurance which provides coverage where noncompliance-related defects result in damage, or risk of death, or serious injury. The amendment will help operationalise decennial liability insurance in New South Wales by clarifying the intended scope of relevant defects required to be insured against whilst maintaining the original intention of decennial insurance. Schedule 21 amends the Swimming Pools Act 1992 to allow the secretary to delegate any function of the secretary under that Act. Following the split from Fair Trading, the Building Commission no longer relies on the Fair Trading Act delegation powers. The amendment ensures the Act can be properly administered by Building Commission NSW.

This bill will strengthen consumer confidence when engaging with key industries by enabling the regulator to cancel licences of unsuitable and irresponsible industry players. The bill will enable NSW Fair Trading to cancel licences where the licence was issued because of an administrative error, a misrepresentation by the licence holder, or where the licence fees are unpaid or withdrawn. This change will be made under schedules 4, 5, 7, 10, 13, 14,15, and 22, and include real estate agents, conveyancers, pawnbrokers, tow truck operators and commercial agents. These amendments will allow NSW Fair Trading to remove traders who have misrepresented their position to obtain a licence and will protect the standard of these industries by ensuring they cannot engage with consumers.

The bill also will allow NSW Fair Trading to cancel licences that have been issued to companies for motor dealers and repairers as well as real estate agents where the company has been wound down or deregistered. This closes a gap in legislation to make sure that deregistered companies do not continue to operate in New South Wales. Importantly, this will minimise the risk to consumers by removing these traders from these industries. Schedule 12 to the bill makes it clear that NSW Fair Trading can take action against individuals involved in motor dealer and repairer businesses where the corporation or partnership they worked for already has had its licence cancelled. This will close a gap in the legislation to allow the regulator to hold relevant players to account where the regulator has already taken action against the company or partnership. Procedural fairness will be afforded to affected licence holders by allowing NSW Fair Trading to restore a cancelled licence where it is appropriate.

I turn now to schedules 7 and 15. The bill will give NSW Fair Trading the power to impose, vary or remove conditions on property and conveyancing licence holders. This ensures that the regulator is equipped with an appropriate enforcement lever when responding to minor noncompliance in the industry. While imposing conditions or cancelling licences is integral to removing bad industry players, it is also important that regulators have the ability to stop these traders from entering these industries. Schedule 7 closes a loophole to ensure solicitors who have had their practising certificates suspended or cancelled are no longer allowed to work as a conveyancer in New South Wales, which will support the continued maintaining of high professional standards in the conveyancing industry. These amendments do not introduce new compliance obligations; rather, these reforms promote confidence in licensing systems, promote a fair and level playing field for industry participants who do the right thing and support this Government's commitment to protecting consumers.

This bill demonstrates the Government's commitment to legislative stewardship by modernising laws so that they provide clarity for consumers and industry, and they remain fit for purpose. This strengthens the integrity of key regulatory schemes and reduces unnecessary complexity for consumers and industry. Schedule 7 will provide disqualified conveyancers with clarity around the duration of their disciplinary action. The amendment will require NSW Fair Trading to specify this period when issuing a disqualification, providing greater clarity for consumers, industry and the regulator. I turn now to schedule 11. The bill will remove references to the Loose‑fill Asbestos Insulation Register under the Home Building Act 1989. This change seeks to remove unnecessary provisions relating to a public register that will no longer be maintained.

Schedules 6 and 19 to the bill clarify that, under the Community Land Management Act 2021 and the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, when the tribunal imposes a pecuniary penalty for a breach of an order, that penalty is payable to the applicant unless the tribunal determines otherwise. This amendment improves clarity for the applicants and the tribunal about the penalty recipient. Schedules 6 and 19 also provide a regulation‑making power that enables the redaction of items when making records available for inspection. This amendment ensures that while transparency remains a priority, access to certain information may need to be limited for privacy and safety reasons. Schedule 6 will make it easier for community associations and neighbourhood associations to waive interest on overdue contributions, aligning it with strata scheme laws.

In addition, schedule 19 also will allow an owner in a two‑lot strata scheme to apply to the tribunal for a penalty where the other owner has failed to comply with a by-law. This amendment ensures that owners have a clear and effective pathway to enforce their rights and maintain harmonious management. I turn now to schedule 18. The bill will allow NSW Fair Trading to approve the form of retirement village disclosure statements and the general inquiry form. This will support businesses and customers by allowing the forms to be more readable, easily available and consumer friendly. The bill will also clarify the power of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal to make different orders in relation to different residents, or groups of residents, of a retirement village. This change will provide more clarity for retirement villages, residents and the tribunal when making orders.

This bill is an important step in the Government's stewardship approach to managing legislation. The amendments will ensure the accuracy and improved functionality of our laws. This bill will elevate service delivery and fortify consumer confidence for New South Wales residents, today and tomorrow. I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.