In November 2025, HIA welcomed the announcement of a Parliamentary Inquiry into skilled migration. The Inquiry is an important opportunity to drive major reforms, including overhauling visa categories for construction trades and exploring innovative pathways to support skilled migrants. It also advocated for overseas students to have the opportunity to undertake apprenticeships in construction trades, creating a stronger bridge between education and employment.

The challenge: meeting demand

Across nearly all sectors of the economy, Australia is experiencing a skills shortage. The housing construction industry is no exception; the industry is calling out for skilled workers to help meet the demand for homes.

Under the National Housing Agreement (NHA), Australia has a target to build 1.2 million homes in five years, by 2029. The target equates to an average of 240,000 homes per annum, and Australia has only come close to this level of home building on two occasions in the past (the apartment boom of 2012–2019 and during the COVID-19 pandemic). On average, Australia is lagging 30 per cent short.

It is well understood that addressing the skills shortage will require a multi-pronged approach – there is no one solution. Skilled migration needs to be front-and-centre now and for the years ahead when talking about the skills shortage. To be truly effective, it will require change in terms of visa classes and visa processes and must be viewed by government and industry as capable of having real impact in terms of productivity.

Existing migration settings are often called out as being too rigid and poorly aligned with industry needs. Visa categories have historically favoured highly paid or professional occupations, often overlooking essential trades such as carpenters, bricklayers and plumbers. This mismatch has limited the system’s ability to respond quickly to labour market demand, prompting calls for a more flexible and targeted approach.

It is prudent that Australia’s strategy for addressing chronic skills shortages prioritises growing the domestic workforce by expanding training opportunities, attracting workers from other sectors, and supporting employers in hiring more apprentices. However, since domestic efforts alone may not suffice, skilled migration can play a vital role in alleviating these shortages, provided the settings are optimised to better support the home building industry.

Strengthening the education-to-employment pipeline

The Inquiry explored the need to better integrate migration policy with Australia’s education and training systems. In particular, there has been strong advocacy for enabling overseas students to undertake apprenticeships in construction trades while studying in Australia.

This proposal represents a significant shift in how international education and skilled migration intersect. Currently, many international students face barriers to entering trade occupations, despite completing relevant qualifications. Allowing these students to transition into apprenticeships would create a more direct pathway from education to employment, helping to address skills shortages while improving job outcomes for graduates.

It is important that existing programs such as the Australian Government Job Ready Program (JRP) are acknowledged and built upon, as they already provide a foundation for this approach. JRP is an employment-based skills assessment program for international student graduates with an Australian qualification. A Provisional Skills Assessment determines if students have the necessary skills and experience needed to work in Australia in their chosen occupation.

The introduction of other innovative approaches, such as a ‘skills in demand’ visa, need industry support. Such approaches could better match migrants to locations with genuine labour shortages, as these can vary significantly across different parts of the country.

Having apprenticeships as part of the migration framework could provide Australia with a more sustainable pipeline of skilled workers who are trained locally and familiar with Australian standards, reducing reliance on short-term migration fixes.

Overhauling visa categories for construction trades

One of the most prominent reform proposals emerging from the Inquiry is the overhaul of visa categories to better accommodate construction trades. HIA and other stakeholders have argued that current visa frameworks do not reflect the structure of the building sector, which relies heavily on subcontracting and independent tradespeople rather than traditional employer-sponsored roles.

A key recommendation has been the creation of dedicated visa pathways tailored specifically to construction workers. This includes proposals for a ‘construction trade contractor’ visa, which would allow skilled migrants to operate as independent contractors rather than being tied to a single employer. Such a model would align more closely with how the industry functions in practice, increasing flexibility for both workers and employers.

In addition, the Inquiry has explored reforms to occupation lists and eligibility criteria to ensure that a broader range of trades is recognised as critical to the economy. This would involve updating the ‘core skills’ categories within the migration system to explicitly include construction occupations, thereby improving access for overseas tradespeople.

Towards a more integrated and responsive system

Australia’s skilled migration system is complex. Anyone wanting to participate in the system must navigate the different pathways, visa types and eligibility requirements. There are 18 visas in the working and skilled visas group, six of these relate to skilled migration.

Officers from the Department of Home Affairs’ Business, Industry and Regional Outreach (BIRO) engage with stakeholders across the country to increase understanding of visa pathway options to help employers fill vacant positions where Australian workers are unavailable.

The Parliamentary Inquiry into skilled migration signals a shift towards a more holistic and adaptive migration framework. Key reforms include:

• the overhaul of visa categories for construction trades
• the development of innovative migration pathways
• the integration of international students into apprenticeship systems.

It aims to create a stronger alignment between migration, education and employment. If implemented effectively, these changes could transform the skilled migration system from a reactive tool into a strategic mechanism for workforce planning. By bridging the gap between education and employment and ensuring that migration settings reflect real-world labour market needs, Australia will be better positioned to address its skills shortages and support long-term economic growth.

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