{{propApi.title}}
{{propApi.text}} {{region}} Change location{{propApi.title}}
{{propApi.successMessage}} {{region}} Change location {{propApi.title}}
{{propApi.text}} {{region}} Change location{{propApi.title}}
{{propApi.successMessage}} {{region}} Change locationLow volume of home building but labour shortages linger
Low volume of home building but labour shortages linger
Member and guest login
Enter your email and password to access secured content, members only resources and discount prices.
Did you become a member online? If not, you will need to activate your account to login.
If you are having problems logging in, please call HIA helpdesk on 1300 650 620 during business hours.
Forgotten password
Need some help?
If you are having problems logging in, please call HIA helpdesk on 1300 650 620 during business hours.
If the email address you have entered is registered, you will receive an email with further instructions.
Become part of the HIA community
Enables quick and easy registration for future events or learning and grants access to expert advice and valuable resources.
Create a guest account
Enter your details below and create a login
The HIA Trades Report released today provides a quarterly review of the availability of skilled trades and any demand pressures on trades operating in the residential building industry.
“Despite the low volume of home building, skills shortages are persisting on the back of labour demands from other construction sectors and the wider economy,” added Mr Reardon.
“Excluding the extremes of the pandemic, one would have to go back to before the GFC to find trades shortages as acute as they are now.
“Home building is set to gain momentum across Australia as interest rates fall, and this will further add to demand for skilled labour. Activity has already been increasing in Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia on the back of strong population growth, low unemployment, tight rental markets and rising prices, and recovering real incomes.
“The shortage of skilled trades across Australia persists in every capital city and region.
“An increase in home building will further add to demand for skilled labour and put further upward pressure on labour prices.
“Despite the expected increase in home building, commencements will remain well below those necessary to achieve 1.2 million homes over five years.
“Home building activity has contracted significantly in the Sydney basin, Melbourne and the ACT, but even this has not been sufficient to arrest the rise in trades prices nationally.
“The result of these shortages is that the price of trades has increased again by 5.5 per cent in the 12 months to March 2025, compared to the broader Australian wage growth closer to 3 per cent.
“Reforms to skilled migration, including a dedicated construction visa, are needed to attract skilled tradespeople from overseas during cyclical peaks in activity.
“Of the 166,830 temporary skilled workers (Visa Subclass 482) in Australia at the end of 2024, only 4,229 were in home building trade occupations.
“Over the medium-to-long term, a domestic workforce development strategy is required that promotes careers in construction to students, recent leavers and Australians more broadly, male and female, young and old.
“Greater support is also needed for apprentices, the public and private organisations that train them, and the businesses that provide them with supervision and on-site experience,” concluded Mr Reardon.
Every market continues to have a shortage of skilled trades, with the worst shortages tending to be in the markets showing the strongest improvements in home building activity. Perth (-0.84) and Brisbane (-0.83) had the most acute shortages among the capital cities, with Sydney (-0.39), Adelaide (-0.38) and Melbourne (-0.35) more modest. Across the regions, the most acute shortage was in regional South Australia (-0.67), followed by regional Victoria (-0.55), regional Western Australia (-0.49), and regional New South Wales (-0.27), with regional Queensland (-0.04) very close to neutral.
By trade, two occupations emerged with a surplus of trades for the first time since September 2020: electrical (+0.05) and plumbing (+0.03). Site preparation is also continuing to improve, with a modest shortage of -0.14, while the readings were more acute for other trades, especially bricklaying (-0.93) and ceramic tiling (-0.91).
Download our latest HIA Trades Report
For more information please contact:
Signs of a pulse in Canberra building approvals
Building approvals for dwellings in Canberra for the year to the end of March have shown some signs that the market may be turning the corner but still remain well below government targets.
Low volume of home building but labour shortages linger
“Australia has just seen its two weakest years of new home commencements in over a decade, meaning these ongoing shortages of skilled trades are not being caused by home building activity,” stated HIA Chief Economist, Tim Reardon.
Building approvals strengthen in March quarter
“There were 48,620 new homes approved for construction in the first quarter of 2025, up by 20.8 per cent on a year earlier,” stated HIA Senior Economist Tom Devitt.
New Government must put housing as first order of business
“The Housing Industry Association (HIA) calls on the newly elected Federal Government to make housing a first-order priority from day one, any delay or political grandstanding will only deepen the nation’s housing crisis,” HIA Managing Director Jocelyn Martin said today.