May 2026

Open standards

The paywall comes down

The Australian Government has committed $42.7 million over four years to provide sponsored public access to mandatory Australian Standards referenced in legislation – a reform Consult Australia has championed for two decades.

The Productivity Commission first recommended governments fund free or low-cost access to legislated standards in 2006. With growing pressure around housing delivery, productivity and construction quality, the Federal Budget measure is welcomed as a practical reform that could remove friction across the construction pipeline.

“Our position has always been simple: if a standard is mandated in legislation, it should be freely available,” says Kristy Eulenstein, Consult Australia’s Head of Policy and Government Relations.

“The existing system has created a strange contradiction: practitioners are legally required to comply with documents they often cannot freely access. This has had serious implications for safety, quality and productivity across the built environment.”

Australia has more than 7,500 standards in existence, with almost 900 embedded in legislation. Around 120 standards are referenced in the National Construction Code alone, and many standards reference further standards. In practice, a single infrastructure or building project can require access to hundreds of documents.

Consult Australia has consistently advocated for change, and in 2025 supported the call for free standards made by a coalition of industry groups. In its submission to the Productivity Commission in 2025, Consult Australia highlighted a powerful example of a small engineering firm forced to purchase hundreds of standards for a project at a cost greater than its profit margin.

“For many firms, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, the cost of compliance can be punishing. Removing paywalls will improve compliance, reduce rework, support learning and make it easier for our members to apply best practice across projects,” Kristy says.

Following the Treasurer’s Budget announcement, Standards Australia Chief Executive Rod Balding described the measure as “a landmark step forward”.

“Australian Standards are essential to a safe and productive Australia. Sponsored access to mandatory standards will help support every Australian, especially small businesses, apprentices and tradies.”

Standards Australia is now working towards sponsored access of selected Australian Standards and a mailing list has been established for people wishing to be notified of progress.

Consult Australia members interested in contributing to standards development and reform can also participate directly through Consult Australia’s representation on Standards committees. For more information, contact Kristy Eulenstein.