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$vuetify.icons.faPhone1300 650 620

How to address skill shortages

How to address skill shortages

Does the residential building industry have the workforce capacity to deliver the number of homes Australia needs? No, we don’t.

It is estimated that there are around 277,827 skilled construction trades workers in the residential building industry spread across the industry’s twelve key trade occupations.

This workforce completed around 173,000 homes in 2023, during which time industry surveys continually revealed shortages of skilled construction trades workers.

Achieving the level of new home building activity needed to build the Federal Government's commitment of 1.2 million homes equates to a 39% increase from the 2023 level.

To enable this level of home building, HIA estimates that the residential building industry trades workforce needs to increase by at least 30%. This means the industry needs over 83,000 additional trades workers to achieve the Governments home building target.

 

How can government address skill shortages?

Build our domestic workforce through long term financial support to employers and apprentices.

Reform the skilled migration system to supplement the domestic workforce. There must be major reforms to current construction trade visa categories coupled with exploring innovative pathways to support skilled migrants.

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Reforming the skilled migration system includes:

  • Developing a construction trade contractor visa that enables skilled migrants to operate as trade contractors.
  • Enabling overseas students to undertake apprenticeships in construction trades.
  • Supporting industry to expand recruitment programs in overseas markets.
  • Providing clear pathways to permanent residency for temporary workers in construction trade occupations.

Promote trades as a career with targeted programs across school leavers, the mature aged, women and those of diverse backgrounds.

Target the retention of apprentices through industry based mentoring programs.

Ensure the construction industry is an industry of choice.

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  • Promote the construction industry as an attractive industry for all workers by ensuring acceptable, safe and appropriate behaviour on construction sites.
  • Confidence must be restored to construction sites to attract the workers the industry desperately needs by establishing an industry specific regulator whose powers expand beyond industrial relations matters to deal with, for example:
    • menacing conduct’ as identified by the CFMEU administrator,
    • anti-competitive conduct in breach of the Competition and Consumer Act, and
    • other illegal activity.
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