Inclusive by Co-Design: Rethinking Accessible Bathroom Design  Vista Access Architects is proud to have contributed to an important University of Technology Sydney (UTS) research project investigating how accessible bathrooms can be designed aro...

Penrith City Council has proudly celebrated the remarkable achievements of its 2026 Local Celebration Awards recipients. At the award ceremony, Council also recognised locals who have received Australia Day Honours and King’s Birthday Honours in...

Astina Group's EDEN (part of the East Side Quarter/ESQ precinct in Penrith) won the Excellence in Apartments (Mid-Rise) category at the 2026 UDIA NSW Awards The 142-apartment development was praised by the judging panel for its cascading planter...

Updated for 2026 | NSW Apartment Design Guide | Housing SEPP | Livable Housing Design | Building Accessibility. For many years, developers, architects and consent authorities commonly understood that 20% of apartments in New South Wales residential d...

Why do Accessibility Mistakes Still Happen in New Builds? Design oversights, misinterpretation of Australian Standards, or Accessibility being considered just too late in the project lifecycle result in accessibility related mistakes in new developme...

Farah Madon appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Australia Day 2026 Honours List, for ‘significant service to architecture and to people with disability’.   Expression of thanks from Farah Madon. 'This recognition is incredib...

Livable Housing Design Guidelines (LHA) Silver level (SL) vs NCC Livable Housing Design Standards (LHDS)   An opinion piece by Farah Madon Farah Madon is a past Director of Livable Housing Australia and also was a member of the ABCB's (Australia...

    It is a huge honour for a project to be nominated as a Finalist in UDIA NSW AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE 2025, but to have 9 of our projects where we have been the Access and Inclusion consultants, completed in the past 12 months to be no...

This article is to illustrate NDIA’s general position to interpreting Item 3 (c) of Schedule 1 of the SDA Rules which will be applied from Tuesday 25 March 2025 to enrolment applications received after this date (or those that are pending). It is not...

One of our most exciting projects of 2024 was working on a project for the Brisbane Athletes Village for the Office of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (QLD Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning).  This project involv...

Analysis of the 2024 car parking requirements under SEPP Housing 2021 for Seniors and People with a disability. [Class 1 parking options as per SEPP Housing 2021 (2024 version)] Below is the link to a short video discussion by Farah Madon, Vista Acce...

Over the past 2 months, Farah Madon has been working on behalf of ACAA (Association of Consultants in Access Australia) with a small group of people including representatives from the building industry, design professionals, certifiers and accessibil...

Farah Madon awarded ACAA Fellow Membership Farah Madon was awarded ACAA (Association of Consultants in Access Australia) Fellow membership at the 2022 ACAA AGM for her significant contribution to ACAA and to the field of disability access. Farah has ...

Bite size technical article on AS1428.1-2021- Luminance contrast where one colour is known and you need to know what the contrasting colour needs to be, to comply with luminance contrast requirements for BCA/NCC or NDIS SDA (Specialist Disability Acc...

AS1428.1:2021- Bite size technical article 1 - Application of 1500mm clear width to Curved walkways and ramps AS1428.1:2021 (Desing for Access and Mobility) Clause 7.4(f) Curved walkways, ramps and landings The AS1428.1-2009 Clause 10.4 the foll...

An existing dwelling can be refurbished to qualify as a 'new build' for SDA (Specialist Disability Accomodation) funding. But have you considered the minimum refurbishment cost ? SDA Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2021-22 (previously the Price...

It is with great joy that we announce that Vista Access Architects are a finalist in the;  2021 Altitude Awards in the Excellence in Inclusion category                        ...

Master Builders QLD - Wide Bay Burnett Housing & Construction Awards 2021 It is with immense pleasure that we announce that the very first project certified by Vista Access Architects in QLD for SDA at both the Design and As-built stages, has won...

The new NSW Housing SEPP will consolidate five existing housing-related NSW SEPPs: 1. State Environmental Planning Policy (Affordable Rental Housing) 2009 (ARHSEPP); 2. State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing for Seniors and People with a Disabi...

Event Details In this webinar, Farah will be introducing the updated version of AS1428.1:2021 which was released in June 2021. It is anticipated that the updated AS1428.1:2021 will be incorporated in the BCA/NCC 2022. Updates provide clarity to AS142...