The use of hybrid joints to provide pre-cast concrete and timber structures with ductile response and self-centering capability is becoming increasingly popular in New Zealand, as is evident by the increasing number of building solutions that incorporate the technology as well as the design provisions for hybrid systems currently included in the New Zealand Concrete standard. This paper raises some issues with the current code approach to estimate the inelastic seismic displacement demand on hybrid systems. The work then presents the results of a series of non-linear time history analyses of single degree of freedom (SDOF) systems characterised by the flag-shaped hysteretic rule, in order to identify a general, improved expression for the equivalent viscous damping of hybrid systems. The new equivalent viscous damping expression is expected to provide more reliable control of inelastic displacement demands for hybrid systems design used Displacement-Based Design (DBD) procedures. In addition, the last part of the paper also discusses how the findings in the paper could be utilised to provide improved control of displacement demands when hybrid systems are designed using force-based procedures.