Six panels, one frame
Each guide answers one question about the screens, doors and windows of a home, written only from the official page it links.
- The security screen standard, from its listing
What Standards Australia’s listing says the three-part standard covers, and what it does not tell you.
- Screens and getting out in a fire
Four fire services on deadlocks, keys and security screens when you need to get out fast.
- Window safety for children
The NSW strata rules for window locks and screens, and the health advice for crawling babies.
- Locks and screens in a rental
Who provides the locks and who may change them, in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.
- Ember screens for bushfire
What two fire services say about metal mesh, aperture size and embers.
- Insect screens or security screens
Two kinds of screen, side by side, on what each official source asks of them.
The standard, as its own listing describes it
Standards Australia lists the security screen standard as AS 5039, in three parts. Its listing describes Part 1 as the performance requirements for every kind of security door and window screen, whether hinged, sliding, folding, removable or fixed, used in buildings of Class 1 to Class 10, and “concerned primarily with resistance to forced entry”.
| Part | Title on the listing | Published |
|---|---|---|
| AS 5039.1:2023 | Classification and performance | 1 December 2023, amended October 2024 |
| AS 5039.2:2024 | Installation | 21 June 2024, amended February 2026 |
| AS 5039.3:2023 | Methods of test | 1 December 2023 |
The full text is sold, so this guide stays with what the free listing shows. Read what the listing covers, part by part.
A screen that keeps people out must still let you out
Whenever you are inside, leave the key in any door or security screen you have locked.
Recommends that windows and locks be easy to open from the inside, and says the best option is deadlocks that open from the inside without keys.
A different job: stopping a fall. Security screens can be used instead of window safety locks in a strata scheme, but any gaps must be less than 12.5 cm.
What the fire services say about getting out · Windows and children
Not every screen is asked to do the same job
Against insects
Healthdirect’s advice is to use insect screens to stop mosquitoes getting inside, and to make sure they have no tears or holes.
Against embers
The CFA (Country Fire Authority) in Victoria says fly screens on doors should have a metal frame and a corrosion-resistant bronze or steel mesh with a maximum aperture of 2 mm.
And in a Queensland rental, a security screen or grille does not replace the working lock or latch the minimum housing standards ask for. The two kinds of screen, side by side.