Policy Snapshot - September 2021

Launch of GBCA’s thought leadership paper on resilience with Zali Steggall OAM MP

In the lead up to World Green Building Week and the theme of #BuildingResilience we are excited to release our latest thought leadership paper – Resilience in the built environment. Launched at an event today with Zali Steggall OAM MP, the paper examines international and domestic frameworks driving resilience and discusses the actions that need to be taken today.

2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 

Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) welcomes Infrastructure Australia’s 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan, which sets out a strong vision and plan for infrastructure across Australia with a focus on place, industry productivity, sustainability and resilience.

We are delighted to see the strong case presented to both government and wider industry for sustainability and resilience to be integrated into investment frameworks, planning and decision making. We worked closely with Infrastructure Australia to provide insight into key opportunities and issues. Following the immense challenges that Australia has faced because of natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a significant opportunity to implement the lessons learned and make our communities more resilient and sustainable in the future.

Release of Victorian Government’s Sustainable Investment Guidelines

The Victorian Government recently released their Sustainable Investment Guidelines. The Guidelines, developed by the Office of Projects Victoria, support project teams to incorporate environmental, social and economic sustainability in Victorian government infrastructure investments. We contributed advice and input to the Guidelines, particularly around the guidance for sustainability rating tool or certification selection.

We strongly support embedding sustainability principles into each stage of the investment process to ensure that infrastructure decisions can help achieve the best policy outcomes possible, in terms of addressing our national priorities on sustainability and resilience.

A Climate Positive Roadmap for Precincts – launching the discussion paper

Urban development sets the scene for carbon impacts for generations. Early decisions impact long-term transport, buildings, water, and waste infrastructure emissions. We are excited to launch our discussion paper, A Climate Positive Roadmap for Precincts at a free webinar next Thursday 23 September. It proposes a set of principles for climate positive precincts and ambitious targets for new and existing precincts to achieve decarbonisation by. 

We aim to seek your input over the coming months and use it to produce a first version of the Roadmap by March 2022. Whether you are a developer, investor, planner, precinct operator, materials supplier, or policymaker, this future roadmap will help you lead in the delivery of a more decarbonised built environment. 

GBCA Policy team news

This month we are saying a fond farewell to Sandra Qian, our Senior Manager – Policy and Government Relations as she moves to join Infrastructure Australia as Associate Director – Policy & Research (Place). Sandra has led the GBCA's advocacy team through many significant changes and has been a tireless advocate for the GBCA’s work in leading the sustainable transformation of the built environment. Thank you for your enormous contribution, Sandra!

We are currently advertising the Senior Manager – Policy and Government Relations role in Sydney or Melbourne. Applications close Friday 17 September. Please share widely with your networks.