Targeted migration to support the housing industry

HIA’s Position Statement

1. Australia’s significant skills shortages demand that migration programs deliver adequate skilled migrants in construction and building professions and trades to meet Australia’s ongoing housing needs.
2. HIA values a reliable demand-driven migration policy as the most reliable method for matching skilled migrants with the demands of the labour market.
3. For the residential building industry, employer sponsorship rules should be contemplated that allow industry groups to sponsor contractors in the residential building industry.
4. The residential building industry should be consulted in the development of effective pathways and migration programs to provide guidance on the verification of overseas skills, licensing, and qualification benchmarks.
5. HIA should identify and prosecute policies and measures that will give effect to and incentivise the foregoing policy, including on a regional basis.
6. HIA will participate in and encourage, as appropriate, overseas marketing activities by government.
7. HIA advocates the ongoing auditing of workforce shortfalls.
8. HIA advocates for the development of a specialist visa class to respond to industry needs.

• Australia’s population is now in excess of 27 million. Over the last decade, there have been three distinct population cycles, driven primarily by net overseas migration (NOM), but also to a smaller extent by a mini natural population boom. Over the last ten years (to December 2017), Australia’s population increased by 15 per cent, or by nearly 3.3 million people.
• The latest population figures for Australia incorporate revisions that reflect the rebasing of population estimates from 2011. These revisions occurred as a result of information gleaned from the 2016 Census (a Census is taken in Australia every five years).
• As the main determinant of population growth, the fluctuating nature of NOM has a crucial impact on workforce participation numbers, national skills capacity, productivity, and economic output.
• As Australia’s population grows and ages, there will naturally be a significant increase in areas of expenditure such as health, welfare, and aged pensions.
• A sensible immigration policy ensuring a relatively high intake of skilled migrants each year can mitigate the adverse budgetary impacts of an ageing population. Skilled migrants who fill gaps in the labour force that domestic workers cannot fill are younger in age and generate additional taxation revenue, in addition to providing a transfer of technology, experience, and knowledge that benefits Australia’s growth potential.
• Research by HIA provides a mid-range projection where, with a reasonable rate of growth in population and household incomes, around 184,400 new dwelling starts on average will be required over the next 30 years to achieve a balance in housing supply and demand. A slow rate of growth in both population and incomes sees this projection slip to only 131,370 starts.
• HIA’s advocacy continues to delineate the issues of migration broadly and that of skilled migration, which is an important distinction in this topic and the broader policy debate.
• Equally critical is ensuring migration settings are balanced with housing supply and what is feasible from a housing delivery perspective.