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{{propApi.successMessage}} {{region}} Change locationHunter & Central Coast housing targets depend on winning the battle for tradies
Hunter & Central Coast housing targets depend on winning the battle for tradies
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Australia’s Future is Built by Tradies, warns Australia’s residential building industry is already around 83,000 skilled workers short.
HIA Executive Director Hunter, Craig Jennion said the national shortage was being felt particularly strongly in Australia's largest regional economy as the Hunter undergoes structural transitions.
“Regional NSW needs more homes, but ultimately we need the people to build them,” Mr Jennion said.
“Residential builders are increasingly competing for skilled workers with major infrastructure projects, renewable energy projects and data centres.
“Everyone wants the electrician, the carpenter and other skilled tradespeople, but we are all drawing from the same limited workforce.
“For housing, that matters. When builders can’t find the workers they need, homes take longer to build, costs rise and getting more keys into the hands of homebuyers becomes harder.
The HIA report calls for governments to elevate trade careers, improve apprenticeship attraction and completion, better support the small businesses that employ apprentices, strengthen school-to-trade pathways and expand workforce capacity.
It also calls for greater regional training opportunities, strategic skilled migration where shortages cannot be filled locally and improved recognition of overseas trade qualifications.
Mr Jennion said NSW had an opportunity to make skilled trades a much bigger part of its workforce strategy.
Recent building approval data saw housing approvals across the Hunter & Central Coast strengthening, with 6,714 dwelling approvals recorded across the two regions, an increase of 5 per cent in the past financial year.
“This is fantastic news. However, we know that an increase in the number of dwellings under construction places additional pressure on the availability of trades.
“To overcome this, we need to expand the support programs available to trade businesses because these businesses are critical to training Australia’s future workforce.
“We also need to change the way we talk to young Australians about careers.
“University will remain the right choice for many, but an apprenticeship should not be treated as the second choice.
“Tradies can earn while they learn, develop skills that will remain in demand and have a genuine pathway to running their own business.
“And in an economy being reshaped by AI, those practical skills are only becoming more valuable.
“Technology can help design a home, prepare an estimate or manage a project. It still cannot turn up on site and build the house.
“The Hunter and Central Coast have ambitious plans for housing, infrastructure and economic growth. Those plans all depend on people with the skills to deliver them.
“If we want to build more, we need to train more.
“The future of the Hunter and Central Coast is built by tradies.”
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