WA legislation for construction industry is long overdue.

A Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Bill 2020 is to be introduced into State Parliament.

In what I believe is an Australian first, the Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Bill 2020 introduces a mandatory retention trust scheme. This will protect subcontractors’ retention money from being misappropriated or lost altogether in insolvency at each level of the contracting chain.

The Bill also includes provisions to have registered building contractors with a history of ripping off subcontractors, or engaging in ‘phoenixing’ activity by driving a construction business into the ground and then re-emerging with a brand new business to be removed from the industry. This is something I am particularly keen to see happen.

I genuinely hope that this sort of legislation is introduced into every Australian state and territory.