Table 4

Coding dataset

SourcePolicy typeMechanismLifecycle stageDecision impactConstraint
Climate Change Act 2022 (Australia Government. Department of Climate Change, 2026, Climate Change Authority, 2025)Regulation (Federal)Targets/strategic directionPlanning (macro)Sets emissions expectationsNon-specific to construction
National Construction Code (NCC) (Australian Building Codes Board, 2025)RegulationCompliance standardsDesignEnergy/material specificationFocus on operational, not embodied
Commonwealth ESP Policy (Australia Government Department of Finance, 2025; Infrastructure Australia, 2024)ProcurementContractual and reportingProcurementForces embodied carbon reportingCost + capability
National Sustainable Procurement Guideline (Australia Government Department of Infrastructure, 2025)ProcurementGuidance/benchmarkingProcurementInfluences tender criteriaNon-mandatory uptake
NSW SEPP (Sustainable Buildings) (NSW Government Planning, 2025;NSW Government Department of Planning, 2023;NSW Government Department of Planning Housing and Infrastructure, 2026; Planning, 2025)Regulation (Planning)Reporting/disclosurePlanningForces LCA and emissions disclosureNo hard targets yet
NSW Embodied Emissions Technical Note (NSW Government Department of Planning Housing and Infrastructure, 2026)Regulation supportTechnical methodologyPlanning/DesignStandardises carbon calculationData complexity
Victoria Recycled First Policy (Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, 2025; Victoria State Government Victorias Big Build, 2023, 2025, 2026)ProcurementTargets and reportingProcurementDrives recycled material useSupply availability
Circular Economy Framework (2024) (Australia Government. Department of Climate Change, 2024)Strategy (Federal)Policy alignmentPlanning (macro)Drives circularity agendaNon-binding
BASIX (Planning, 2025)Regulation (State)Compliance toolDesignRequires embodied carbon calculationLimited scope
NABERS (NABERS, 2024)Rating systemBenchmarkingOperation/DesignPerformance trackingLimited embodied carbon scope
Green Star (Green Building Council Australia, 2026)Rating systemIncentives/creditsDesignEncourages low-carbon materialsVoluntary uptake
Infrastructure Australia report (Infrastructure Australia, 2024)IndustryData and projectionsPlanningQuantifies emissions baselineNo enforcement
GBCA Carbon Reduction Guide (Green Building Council Australia, 2023)IndustryGuidance/toolsDesignSupports material decisionsVoluntary
MECLA (MECLA, 2026)Industry collaborationKnowledge sharingDesign/ProcurementAccelerates decarbonisationCoordination limits
Amarasinghe et al. (2024) AcademicAnalytical insightDesignHighlights embodied carbon importanceImplementation complexity
Shooshtarian et al. (2025) AcademicPolicy evaluationProcurementIdentifies recycled material gapsWeak incentives
Gurusinghe et al. (2025) AcademicFramework (ReSOLVE)DesignCircular strategy guidanceIndustry fragmentation
Zhang et al. (2026) AcademicConceptual alignmentPlanningLinks carbon + circular economyIntegration difficulty
Li et al. (2025) AcademicIndicator frameworkDesignImproves circularity measurementLack of standardisation
Hasselsteen et al. (2026) AcademicLCA modellingDesignIndicates early-stage carbon lock-inData intensity
Ahmed et al. (2024) AcademicProcurement analysisProcurementIndicates procurement influenceAdoption variability
Ajayi et al. (2017) AcademicWaste minimisation modelProcurementImproves material efficiencyContractual complexity
Park and Tucker (2017) AcademicBarrier analysisConstructionIdentifies reuse barriersClient resistance
Senarathne et al. (2025) AcademicMaterial passportsDesignEnables circular trackingData infrastructure

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