The Urban Developer
AdvertiseEventsWebinarsUrbanity
Industry Excellence
Urban Leader
Sign In
Membership
Latest
Menu
Location
Sector
Category
Content
Type
Newsletters
Urban Leader Awards Logos RGB White
NOMINATIONS CLOSE SEPTEMBER 12 RECOGNISING THE INDIVIDUALS BEHIND THE PROJECTS
NOMINATIONS CLOSING SEPTEMBER 12 URBAN LEADER AWARDS
LEARN MOREDETAILS
TheUrbanDeveloper
Follow
About
About Us
Membership
Awards
Events
Webinars
Listings
Resources
Terms & Conditions
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Republishing Guidelines
Editorial Charter
Complaints Handling Policy
Contact
General Enquiries
Advertise
Contribution Enquiry
Project Submission
Membership Enquiry
Newsletter
Stay up to date and with the latest news, projects, deals and features.
Subscribe
ADVERTISEMENT
SHARE
1
print
Print
OtherMarisa WikramanayakeWed 29 Mar 23

Melbourne to Ratchet Up Fines for Construction Breaches

Changes to two local laws will see larger penalties posed for offences by the construction industry to increase deterrence.

The City of Melbourne has voted to change two local laws that will ramp up penalties for construction law breaches.

The council on March 28 voted to amend the Activities Local Law 2019 and the Environment Local Laws 2019 to bring the definition of penalty units in each law in line with the Local Government Act 2020.

The Future Melbourne Committee previously noted at a meeting on July 21, 2020 that keeping to the maximum limit of 20 penalty units for any building works-related breaches of local laws was “too low to be a meaningful deterrent for larger projects”.

It also noted that “the cost of breaching the local law is increasingly being built into the cost of doing business”.

City of Melbourne councillor Rohan Leppert explained further at the March 28 meeting.

“The council has in the past identified a class of offenses, usually against a company, where the penalties are so low now as to not be sending any meaningful financial deterrent against bad behavior,” Leppert said.

“The classic example here and the one that we focused on in 2020 is construction activity outside the local law hours.

“For some of the bigger construction sites around town it is an open secret that it is cheaper to build into the cost of building, the cost of doing development, to be starting before the local law hours allow you to and cop the penalty than it is to not do that.”

Both laws currently reference the Local Government Act 1989 which sets the value of a penalty unit at $100 for any offence.

The 2020 act, however, refers back to the Sentencing Act of 1991 which in turn references the Monetary Units Act of 2004 which allows the set rate for a penalty unit to be varied by the treasurer and raised along with inflation.

It is currently set at $184.92 with a maximum number of penalty units for any offence set at 20.

The council’s changes will mean that while other penalties will undergo a slight decrease or see no change, there will be changes to penalties for construction offences.

A man in a high vis vest looks up at the steel frame of a building under construction. The City of Melbourne has announced a new code of practice for construction, building and works.
▲ The City of Melbourne says some companies build the cost of fines into their construction budgets.

Leppert said that the scope of the local law review was only to bring the penalties into line and asserted that only a handful of companies acting in bad faith.

“This is all about making sure that we’re not just allowing that flat rate of penalty in the age of quite significant inflation,” Leppert said. 

“Companies just building the cost of non compliance with local laws into the cost of doing business needs to stop.”

The council voted unanimously to direct its staff to create proposals to write Activities Local Law 2023 and the Environment Local Laws 2023 and for a process to include community engagement, bring the local laws in line with the relevant acts and to and update any out-of-date references.

The motion also included a directive to have the local laws come into effect during the 2023-24 financial year.  

OtherMelbourneAustraliaPolicyConstructionConstructionPolicy
AUTHOR
Marisa Wikramanayake
The Urban Developer
More articles by this author
ADVERTISEMENT
TOP STORIES
Stockland bumps up its apartment pipeline in melbourne and sydney
Exclusive

Stockland Re-Enters Density in $5bn Apartment Play

Renee McKeown
4 Min
Woolloongabba Precinct Vulture St
Exclusive

Brisbane Developer in Cross River Rail Compensation Tussle

Clare Burnett
4 Min
The Mondrian Gold Coast hotel's food and beverage is driving profits
Exclusive

Touch, Taste, Theatre: What’s Driving Mondrian’s Success

Renee McKeown
6 Min
Fortis’ display suites are designed as brand environments first, with tactile details and curated design to build buyer confidence before project specifics.
Exclusive

Relevant or Redundant: Will Tech Kill Display Suites?

Vanessa Croll
7 Min
Exclusive

Missing Heart: Why The Gold Coast Needs a CBD

Phil Bartsch
7 Min
View All >
South Melbourne social housing precinct
Affordable & Social Housing

South Melbourne Housing Precinct Revamp Takes Next Step

Leon Della Bosca
The Adelaide purpose built student accommodation market is about to increase by 1058 beds with the State Commission Assessment Panel supporting two towers in the making.
Student Housing

Highrise Approvals Add 1000-Plus PBSA Beds in Adelaide

Renee McKeown
JQZ Parramatta EDM
Residential

JQZ Plots 10-Storey Addition to Parramatta ‘Auto Alley’ Plans

Clare Burnett
The Sydney developer is pushing ahead with a project it picked up following the collapse of Dyldam in 2020....
LATEST
South Melbourne social housing precinct
Affordable & Social Housing

South Melbourne Housing Precinct Revamp Takes Next Step

Leon Della Bosca
2 Min
The Adelaide purpose built student accommodation market is about to increase by 1058 beds with the State Commission Assessment Panel supporting two towers in the making.
Student Housing

Highrise Approvals Add 1000-Plus PBSA Beds in Adelaide

Renee McKeown
3 Min
JQZ Parramatta EDM
Residential

JQZ Plots 10-Storey Addition to Parramatta ‘Auto Alley’ Plans

Clare Burnett
3 Min
Aerial view of Caboolture and Bruce highway to Brisbane with Bribie Island Road crossing, Queensland, Australia
Policy

Queensland’s $2bn Push Opens New Housing Front

Vanessa Croll
2 Min
View All >
ADVERTISEMENT
Article originally posted at: https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/city-melbourne-local-law-changes-penalties-construction-offences