Today, Australia has thousands of standards that cover almost every aspect of life, from food and flushable wipes to sunscreen and scaffolding.
For the past 100 years, Standards Australia has been at the forefront of the response to some of our nation’s most tragic events, and the construction of iconic projects.
And it predicts 4,000 new standards will be required in the next decade to ensure a safe, productive and sustainable future.
But what are standards, and how do they work?
Standards Australia CEO Adrian O'Connell says the first standards in Australia were created in 1922.
"Put simply standards are documents that set out guidelines that aim to ensure products, services and systems are safe, consistent and reliable. Since the first Australian standard in 1922, which guided the types of materials used in the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, 1000s of standards have been implemented covering products and industries as diverse as tennis court lighting, ballpoint pens and renewable energy. Today, Australia has 1000s of standards that cover almost every aspect of our lives, keeping workers and citizens safe and ensuring a more productive and sustainable economy."
Mr Stingemore says Australian standards have had to adapt to changes in weather patterns caused by climate change, particularly towards increased flood and bushfire risks.
"So that the amount of the amount of water that falls in a rainstorm is changing. The size and the density of hail and where we're getting big hail storms, the bushfire risk that exists in every state in Australia is changing. So what we're doing is working with governments and industry to make sure that the standards that we have, that the planning controls that we have, are not only fit for the environment in which we live today, but the environment that we're expecting tomorrow."
