Over the past few months, many HIA members attended one of our Housing Roundtables prior to the federal election in May.

These roundtables brought together a cross-section of HIA members from project and custom home builders, renovation and extension experts, trade contractors, engineers, building designers, building certifiers and surveyors, building product manufacturers and suppliers and housing leaders.

The sessions focused predominantly on the politicians and aspiring politicians, seeking feedback from our industry on key barriers that are holding back greater housing supply, and what they want to see from the next federal government to address these issues.

We held these roundtables across the country, including these locations:

• Kiama, South Coast NSW – federal electorate of Gilmore
• Liverpool, South-west Sydney – federal electorate of Weirwa
• Bendigo, Central Victoria – federal electorate of Bendigo
• Tumbi Umbi, Central Coast NSW – federal electorate of Dobell
• Campbelltown, Greater Western Sydney – federal electorate of Macarthur
• East Maitland, Hunter Region, NSW – federal electorate of Patterson
• Newcastle, NSW – federal electorate of Shortland
• Frankston, Victoria – federal electorate of Dunkley
• Queanbeyan, NSW – federal electorate of Eden Monaro
• Randwick, Sydney – federal electorate of Kingsford Smith
• Sutherland, Sydney – federal electorate of Hughes

In addition to these roundtables, we launched our HIA 2025 Federal Election Campaign at members’ building sites at:

• North Nowra on the NSW South Coast in the marginal seat of Gilmore
• Maddingley, in the North-west of Melbourne in the federal seat of Hawke.

Setting out the issues

While there were differences in the issues raised across all the forums, and particularly in the regional areas in contrast to new growth corridors in outer Melbourne and Sydney, key themes emerging included:

• addressing our industries chronic skill shortages – with a shortfall in excess of 83,000 tradies needed immediately
• reducing and removing the excessive and never-ending raft of new and changing regulation and red tape, with industry still feeling the effects of NCC 2022 and ongoing WHS changes
• delays and inconsistencies across councils in getting planning approvals and new land releases and lack of accountability in different government utilities agencies
• lack of investment in getting key enabling (last mile) infrastructure delivered in timely fashion
• challenges for first home buyers to access finance to secure home deposit, and role of banks in project financing and timely issuing of progress payments.

Our campaign called for real action to make it easier — not harder — to get homes built.

HIA’s 2025 federal election campaign, Let’s Build Australia, went to the heart of these issues.

It advocated for increased support for industry, addressing the two-decade-long workforce issues and putting a pause on further red and green tape which is driving up home building costs.

While there have been some positive moves to boost housing supply, all agreed that much more is needed from the next federal government. Keeping on with business-as-usual solutions to solve the nation’s housing crisis won’t cut it.

Let’s Build campaign

Our campaign called for real action to make it easier — not harder — to get homes built. There’s only one way to address the nation’s housing crisis and the answer is simple – we need to build more homes. To achieve this, we need all policies and government actions focused on boosting supply and addressing housing (un)affordability.

The key now for the returned Albanese government to deliver on their election promises, fast-track their delivery and implementation, and make increasing housing supply and addressing our chronic skills shortages is first order priorities for the government.

For more information, visit Let’s Build Australia.

First published on 9 May 2025.