--- title: "Starts per 100 Approvals: How Each State’s Dwelling Commencements Track Its Approvals" url: https://australianproperty.network/analysis/construction-development-pipeline-analysis/building-approvals-commencements-data/starts-per-100-approvals-dwelling-commencements-by-state/ date: 2026-10-09 modified: 2026-10-07 lang: en author: "APN National" description: "From 2011 to 2025, 98.4 dwellings were begun in Australia for every 100 approved, and every state finished within a few points of one start per approval. In the year to June 2026 the states diverged: Victoria 103.2, Queensland 94.1, Tasmania 91.6." categories: - "Building Approvals & Commencements Data" tags: - "21510" - "ABS Building Activity" - "building approvals" - "housing supply" word_count: 1156 --- # Starts per 100 Approvals: How Each State’s Dwelling Commencements Track Its Approvals From 2011 to 2025, 98.4 dwellings were begun in Australia for every 100 approved, and every state and territory finished the period within a few points of one start per approval: from 96.7 in South Australia to 102.4 in the Northern Territory. Over shorter periods the states diverge, because approvals and starts fall in different quarters. In the year to June 2026, Victoria began 103.2 dwellings per 100 approved, drawing on approvals from earlier years, while Queensland began 94.1 and Tasmania 91.6. The ACT began 119.5 per 100 in the year to June 2026; by calendar year its ratio has ranged from 87.4 (2025) to 155.4 (2024). **Data anchors** · [Building Approvals & Commencements (21510)](https://australianproperty.network/apn-codex/series-20000/series-21000/series-21500/21510-building-approvals-commencements/) at **+0.4936σ**, June quarter 2026, position **91.2**, ranked against 172 quarters · 98.4 dwellings begun for every 100 approved across Australia, 2011 to 2025; 99.4 in the year to June 2026. Approvals and commencements are separate ABS collections, not matched project by project; the ratio between them measures timing over a period, not the share of approvals that proceed. #### What the comparison measures Dwelling approvals are counted by the ABS in [Building Approvals](https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/building-and-construction/building-approvals-australia/aug-2026) when councils and certifiers approve a job; commencements are counted in [Building Activity](https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/building-and-construction/building-activity-australia/jun-2026) when site work begins. A dwelling approved in one quarter is usually begun in a later one, and the two collections are not linked project by project. Dividing starts by approvals over the same period therefore measures how closely starts have kept pace with approvals, not the share of approved dwellings that went ahead. The national picture since 1984 is set out in [From Approval to Start: The Conversion Gap](https://australianproperty.network/analysis/legislation-policy/planning-regulations/development-application-da-approval-process-analysis/dwelling-approvals-to-commencements-conversion-gap/); this piece takes the same measure state by state. #### Fifteen years: close to one start per approval everywhere ##### Dwelling commencements per 100 approvals, by state and territory, 2011 to 2025 - 020406080100120Northern Territory102.4Victoria99.5Queensland99.0New South Wales97.6Tasmania97.6Western Australia97.5Australian Capital Territory97.3South Australia96.7Australia98.4 APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Building Activity, Australia, June quarter 2026, Table 34. Dwelling commencements per 100 dwelling approvals (Building Approvals, Australia, August 2026, Table 9), total dwelling units, original. Calendar years 2011 to 2025 combined. Over the fifteen years, every state and territory began between 96.7 and 102.4 dwellings per 100 approved. New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, which account for most approvals, were each between 96 and 100. Over a long enough period, starts in every state have nearly matched approvals. The data cannot show whether the small shortfall, nationally and in seven of the eight states and territories, reflects approvals that lapsed, approvals replaced by later ones, or dwellings begun after 2025. #### The year to June 2026 ##### Dwelling commencements per 100 approvals, by state and territory, four quarters to June 2026 020406080100120140Australian Capital Territory119.5Victoria103.2South Australia101.0Western Australia99.4New South Wales98.8Northern Territory97.3Queensland94.1Tasmania91.6Australia99.4 APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Building Activity, Australia, June quarter 2026, Table 34. Dwelling commencements per 100 dwelling approvals (Building Approvals, Australia, August 2026, Table 9), total dwelling units, original. Four quarters to June 2026. | State or territory | Approved, 2011–2025 | Begun, 2011–2025 | Starts per 100 | Approved, year to June 2026 | Begun, year to June 2026 | Starts per 100 | | ------------------ | ------------------------- | ---------------------- | -------------- | --------------------------- | ------------------------ | -------------- | | Northern Territory | 16,416 | 16,810 | 102.4 | 847 | 824 | 97.3 | | Victoria | 906,635 | 902,003 | 99.5 | 55,800 | 57,589 | 103.2 | | Queensland | 571,476 | 565,888 | 99.0 | 48,754 | 45,865 | 94.1 | | New South Wales | 824,743 | 805,114 | 97.6 | 52,425 | 51,807 | 98.8 | | Tasmania | 41,511 | 40,517 | 97.6 | 2,742 | 2,513 | 91.6 | | Western Australia | 324,530 | 316,519 | 97.5 | 25,653 | 25,509 | 99.4 | | Australian Capital Territory | 72,178 | 70,196 | 97.3 | 4,128 | 4,935 | 119.5 | | South Australia | 178,258 | 172,356 | 96.7 | 15,244 | 15,401 | 101.0 | | **Australia** | **2,935,747** | **2,889,403** | **98.4** | **205,593** | **204,443** | **99.4** | APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Building Activity, Australia, June quarter 2026, Table 34. Approvals: Building Approvals, Australia, August 2026, Table 9. Total dwelling units, original. State commencements sum to within a few dwellings of the national total. In the four quarters to June 2026, Victoria began 1,789 more dwellings than it approved, and Queensland 2,889 fewer. Queensland approved 48,754 dwellings in the year to June 2026, 26.9% more than in the year to June 2025. Starts in a period can relate to approvals from an earlier one, so a low ratio in a year of rising approvals is consistent with timing, though the data cannot confirm it. The territories’ ratios move furthest from year to year, because their totals are small and a few large projects can shift them a long way. The approvals behind these figures are covered in [Dwelling Approvals, August 2026: Houses Lead a Rising Year](https://australianproperty.network/?p=151619), and what happens after a start in [From Approval to Completion: Australia’s Dwelling Pipeline Stage by Stage](https://australianproperty.network/?p=152838). #### Year by year in the three largest states ##### Dwelling commencements per 100 approvals by calendar year: New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, 2011 to 2025 80901001101202012201420162018202020222024New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandOne start per approval103.8100.297.9 APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Building Activity, Australia, June quarter 2026, Table 34. Dwelling commencements per 100 dwelling approvals (Building Approvals, Australia, August 2026, Table 9), total dwelling units, original. Each calendar year. The dotted line marks one start for each approval. In single years the ratio moves well away from 100 and back. In New South Wales it ranged from 88.3 to 110.7, in Victoria from 93.4 to 105.7 and in Queensland from 94.1 to 105.1. In years when starts outnumber approvals, some of those starts must be dwellings approved in earlier years. #### The reading [Building Approvals & Commencements (21510)](https://australianproperty.network/apn-codex/series-20000/series-21000/series-21500/21510-building-approvals-commencements/) combines national approvals, commencements and the gap between them, each standardised against its 2011 to 2025 history. At +0.4936σ for the June quarter 2026, with approvals at +0.6369σ and commencements at +0.5146σ, both stages are above their averages; its position is 91.2 against 172 quarters. 98.4Starts per 100 approvals, Australia, 2011 to 202599.4Starts per 100 approvals, year to June 2026103.2Victoria, year to June 2026+0.4936σBuilding Approvals & Commencements (21510) #### What this does not show Because the two collections are not linked, the ratio cannot show how many approvals lapse, how long the gap between approval and start is, or why. Commencements come from a survey and are revised; approvals are revised as late returns arrive, and this piece uses the August 2026 edition. Both count dwellings in new buildings and those created by alterations and conversions, across public and private sectors. State ratios for the territories rest on small numbers. **Methodology note.** Commencements are dwelling units commenced by state and territory, ABS Building Activity, Australia, June quarter 2026, Table 34 (original, total sectors, total type of building and work). Approvals are total dwelling units approved by state and territory, ABS Building Approvals, Australia, August 2026, Table 9 (original; Australia A422064L), summed to calendar years and quarters. Starts per 100 approvals divide the commencements in a period by the approvals in the same period. Building Approvals & Commencements (21510) is the equal-weighted mean of the standard scores of national approvals, commencements and the approvals-less-commencements gap against their 2011 to 2025 baselines; its position is the percentile rank among 172 full-coverage quarters. **Sources** Australian Bureau of Statistics (Reference period: August 2026) *Building Approvals, Australia* [[https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/building-and-construction/building-approvals-australia/aug-2026](https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/building-and-construction/building-approvals-australia/aug-2026)], ABS Website, accessed 7 October 2026.- Australian Bureau of Statistics (Reference period: June quarter 2026) *Building Activity, Australia* [[https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/building-and-construction/building-activity-australia/jun-2026](https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/building-and-construction/building-activity-australia/jun-2026)], ABS Website, accessed 7 October 2026. *ABS material is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Calculations, standardisations and index readings are APN’s and are not attributable to the ABS.* Findings are presented on the basis of data and evidence alone.