Buildings for changing needs
Senator Santo Santoro
Australian builders and planners will be encouraged to create buildings catering to the changing needs of older Australians.
The Department of Health and Ageing, in conjunction with the Australian Building Codes Board, will be conducting a national series of seminars and workshops beginning next month.
The Minister for Ageing, Senator Santo Santoro, said the seminar series would further clarify the responsibilities of builders in relation to aged care accommodation.
“These seminars reflect the importance of ensuring that residential aged care buildings are appropriately designed and built to meet the needs of elderly Australians,” he said.
“This is an area of high priority for the Howard Government as we plan to meet the needs of Australia’s ageing population.”
The seminars and workshops are aimed at those involved in designing, building or approving residential aged-care buildings, including architects, building surveyors, services engineers, aged-care service providers and allied professionals.
They are designed to further clarify the Building Code of Australia (BCA) provisions for Class 9c Buildings and their relationship to the Aged Care Certification Assessment Instrument.
Class 9c was introduced by the Australian Building Codes Board in July 2002 to meet the Government’s policy of providing ageing in place.
The seminars are supported by the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors, the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and the Building Designers Association of Australia.
Further information and registration for the seminars is available at www.chgroup.com.au
