AWARDS, ADVOCACY AND REM – A MESSAGE FROM THE VICTORIAN PRESIDENT

The Awards programme is one of the highlights of the annual Institute calendar and right now we are very much in the midst of the programme.  Awards submissions were made earlier in the year with the exhibition of entries and the presentation to juries held in mid-March at Monash’s Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture in Caulfield.  Both events at Monash are open to entrants, practitioners, students and the public alike.  This year I was honoured to be on the EmAGN jury which enjoyed a range of fantastic projects articulately presented by our young architect and graduate members of EmAGN.  It was inspiring to see the enthusiasm displayed by the EmAGN cohort and the creative and intellectual energy they are investing into the profession.  At the end of April, the shortlisted entries across all categories will be visited, awarded entries subsequently determined, and awards announcements made at the Victorian Awards dinner at the Pullman Melbourne in Albert Park on 16th June.  I would like to encourage all members to participate in the celebration of the awards event by buying a ticket and enjoy a wonderful evening engaging with colleagues.

Meanwhile the Victorian Chapter has been working furiously to respond to state government requests for industry submissions.  Over the last four weeks we have made the following submissions:

  • Building Electrification – Regulatory Impact Statement
  • Parliamentary Inquiry into the redevelopment of Melbourne’s public housing towers
  • Parliamentary Inquiry into the supply of homes in regional Victoria

Thanks to our Chapter’s Housing and Sustainability committees, the Institute’s Climate Action Policy officer Ruth Nordstrom and our State Manager, Daniel Moore for their hard work in preparing these papers which are available for viewing on the Institute website

Following the release of the State Government’s Plan Victoria, accompanied by changes to our planning regulations, including the most recent changes to Rescode, and together with our colleagues at the Planning Institute of Australia, the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects and the Urban Design Forum, we have submitted a commentary and request for a meeting with the Premier to further expand on how planning processes might be further developed to the benefit of the Victorian community.  

This week we are meeting with Minister Sonya Kilkenny, Minister of Planning, to discuss Plan Victoria and several heritage areas of interest while later in the week we are meeting the Victorian School Building Authority’s Executive Director of Delivery, Avril Shihab-Smith, to discuss the processes and parameters of architects engagement with the significant and very successful expanded school building programme that has been rolled out over the past couple of years.

Members should also know that the State Government has recently introduced into Parliament the ‘Building Legislation Amendment (Buyer Protections) Bill 2025’ which assigns the VMIA and DBDRV into the Victorian Building Authority but more importantly from our perspective, introduces developer bonds, first resort domestic insurance and regulatory protocols to force defect rectification.  We have for some time been advocating directly to Ministers for mechanisms to broadly address building defects, particularly in design & construct projects undertaken without the benefit of contract security and an architect superintending.  The legislation has just passed through the Legislative Assembly and, Minister Shing who is now Minister for Housing and Building (as well as Development Victoria & Precincts and Suburban Rail Loop) and responsible for the legislation, has on Thursday introduced the legislation into the Upper House.

I would like to encourage as many Victorian members as possible to make it to the Australian Architecture Conference 2025 on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd of May and enjoy the breadth of speakers, the opportunity to secure formal CPD points (just before the close of the CPD year on 30 June) and also to enjoy and engage with Institute members from across Australia.  Tickets are still available and can be arranged through architecture.com.au.

 

David Wagner FRAIA
President of Victorian Chapter

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