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{{propApi.successMessage}} {{region}} Change location83,000 more tradies urgently needed
83,000 more tradies urgently needed
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The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has released a report that warns that trade shortages present a significant threat to achieving the Housing Accord’s target of building 1.2 million homes over the next five years.
Australia does not currently have enough tradies to build the number of homes needed to house the population and take pressure off housing costs. The report titled All Hands on Deck presents a plan to grow the construction workforce and enable the Housing Accord target to be achieved.
“The residential building industry currently employs approximately 278,000 tradies across the twelve key trade occupations required for home building. The trades workforce needs to grow by at least 30 per cent to meet the Accord’s goals. That is over 83,000 additional tradies.
“To achieve the target, an average of 240,000 homes must be built annually—a level that has only been approached twice in Australia’s history.
“This means a significant boost in the number of chippies, sparkies, plumbers, brickies and concreters, to get these much-needed homes out of the ground and to lock up.
“Despite efforts to boost the domestic trades workforce, significant challenges remain. Creating career opportunities for the local workforce should be a priority, however this alone will not solve to the tradie shortage.
“Skilled migration is the other key lever that the government can pull in the short term to address the immediate shortage of tradies.
“The time for business as usual solutions has passed, and we need ‘all hands on deck’ and coordinated government actions to address the chronic shortage of tradies,” concluded Mr Murray.
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Update: contracts signed before 1 July 2026 and optional cover
HIA will continue to update you as we receive further advice and information on the ongoing transition from Domestic Building Insurance (DBI) to the First Resort Home Warranty Scheme (FRHWS).
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