The ACT Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction is confident a new scheme to identify privately owned buildings with potentially dangerous flammable cladding will capture all the affected properties.
But industry and residents groups have raised concerns the scheme will not go far enough to address the problem.
Rebecca Vassarotti said the ACT government thought there were about90 privately owned apartment buildings which could need flammable cladding rectified.
"What we are trying to do is really looking at a practical way to work through this issue. We have a pretty good sense of where these buildings are. We've looked at the eligibility, and we've really drawn from the experiences from other jurisdictions," Ms Vassarotti said of the scheme, which will offer rebates on assessment and concessional loans for rectification works.
But Ms Vassarotti, a Greens MLA, stopped short of committing to an audit of privately owned buildings, which had been the party's preference in 2019.
"We are quite confident that these particular mechanisms will ensure that buildings that require further work will be identified and rectification work will be done," she said.
ACT Owners Corporation Network president Gary Petherbridge said he welcomed the new scheme, but there was still more the government could do to fix the issue.
Mr Petherbridge said owners were often reluctant to come forward and have their buildings potentially devalued if they were found to have flammable cladding.
"The government are the ones that certified these buildings are ready for occupancy, so the government knows where they are and who they are. Really, if they're certifying that they're ready for occupancy and safe, sure, the government has still got some responsibility there," he said.
Mr Petherbridge said the increased amount in rates paid by unit owners should be used to fund more comprehensive identification and rectification work for flammable cladding.
The ACT Strata Community Association said it was concerned the scheme would not go far enough, and called on the ACT government to urgently meet with insurers.
The association's president, Shelley Mulherin, said insurers were extremely reluctant to insure buildings with identified flammable cladding.
"What do owners corporations do once they have used the government finance for testing, identified an issue, disclosed to their insurance and had their insurance revoked or invalidated?" Ms Mulherin said.
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Ms Vassarotti also confirmed 11 publicly owned buildings identified in a flammable cladding audit were on track to have rectification work completed by September.
The minister again refused to release the list of 23 buildings identified in the audit, saying the government was concerned "people could take matters into their own hands" and set the buildings on fire.
"People that are affected, as part of the program, we're working with those individuals and they know exactly what's going on and how the work will be proceeding," Ms Vassarotti said.
