Queensland Government Embraces Construction Productivity Reform
Historic response to QPC inquiry aligns with prefabAUS Building the Future We Want Roadmap
The Queensland Government has demonstrated national leadership in construction industry reform, with the release on 21 January of its response to the Queensland Productivity Commission's Final Report on opportunities to improve productivity of the construction industry.
The Government has agreed or agreed in principle to 51 of the report's 64 recommendations, signalling a comprehensive commitment to transforming the state's construction sector. The Treasurer and Minister for Housing and Public Works have confirmed that work will continue across government to prioritise and coordinate implementation, with further targeted consultation with stakeholders.
prefabAUS Contributing Industry Expertise Through BMAC
prefabAUS serves as a member of the Building Ministerial Advisory Council (BMAC), contributing industry expertise to shape policies that support construction productivity and Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). BMAC provides a two-way forum enabling the Minister for Housing and Public Works to engage with key industry stakeholders about matters relevant to the building and construction industry.
The Council has had several conversations about the Queensland Productivity Commission's inquiry into construction productivity, with prefabAUS providing direct input on how MMC can address the sector's challenges. At Offsite 2025 (the prefabAUS annual conference), Assistant Minister for Planning, Housing and Better Regulation, The Hon Rebecca Young MP, announced that a dedicated MMC sub-group would be added to BMAC, providing Modern Methods of Construction with focused attention within this influential reform body.
Alignment with Building the Future We Want Roadmap
Many of the adopted recommendations directly align with the priorities established in the prefabAUS Building the Future We Want Roadmap. Key areas of alignment include:
Regulatory Reform and Standards: The Roadmap calls for changing planning system requirements to standardise definitions of prefabrication and modernise building regulations to support use and approval of prefabrication through clear standards. The QPC recommendations address regulatory barriers that have made construction more difficult and expensive, with the government committing to reducing administrative burden and removing policies that add complexity.
Construction Productivity: The Roadmap targets demonstrating a 20 per cent cost advantage over conventional construction and reducing home construction times significantly. The QPC report identified a 9 per cent decline in construction productivity since 2018, with the government's response focused on removing barriers to innovation and competition to rebuild productivity.
Strategic Procurement: The Roadmap recommends applying strategic public procurement principles, favouring MMC. The government has agreed to permanently remove Best Practice Industry Conditions (BPICs) from procurement policy and remove pre-qualification requirements for sub-contractors on government construction projects, enabling greater market participation.
Workforce Development: The Roadmap emphasises building the future workforce to address Australia's construction skills shortage. The QPC inquiry acknowledged the critical shortage of workers to build homes, community infrastructure and 2032 Games projects, with reforms aimed at supporting a more capable construction sector.
Industry Development and Innovation: The Roadmap calls for creating an ecosystem that supports industry awareness and capability development. By removing barriers to innovation and competition, the government's response supports the Roadmap's vision for a more capable and scaled Smart Building sector.
Congratulations to Queensland
prefabAUS congratulates the Queensland Government on its leadership in responding comprehensively to the Queensland Productivity Commission's inquiry. By agreeing to 51 of 64 recommendations, Queensland is positioning itself at the forefront of construction industry reform in Australia.
This commitment builds on Queensland's existing momentum in Modern Methods of Construction, including the QBuild MMC program, which has delivered over 300 homes and has 600 in the pipeline, and the state's 50 per cent MMC target for government projects as it prepares for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The alignment between the government's response and the Building the Future We Want Roadmap demonstrates that Queensland recognises the transformative potential of Smart Building approaches to address the state's housing and infrastructure challenges.
prefabAUS looks forward to continuing its engagement through BMAC and other forums to support the implementation of these reforms and advance the shared goal of a more productive, innovative construction sector for Queensland and Australia.
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For more information:
The QPC Final Report and Queensland Government's response are available at:
treasury.qld.gov.au/research-and-publications/reviews-and-inquiries/
The prefabAUS Building the Future We Want Roadmap is available at prefabaus.org.au/industry-roadmap
