As the federal election approaches, both major parties have unveiled plans to tackle Australia's skills shortage, aiming to boost home building across the nation.
The Housing Industry Association's recent skills mapping assessment found a significant shortfall of over 83,000 trade workers needed to achieve Australia’s 1.2 million new homes target.
According to the analysis, to meet this goal, the country needs an additional 22,000 carpenters, 17,000 electricians, 12,000 plumbers, 5,000 bricklayers and 3,000 concreters.
“Put simply, if we don’t have the tradies coming through the 1.2 million homes target will be a pipe dream,” HIA managing director Jocelyn Martin said.
Both Labor and the Coalition have put forward several housing policies, including new initiatives to address skill shortages in the home building sector.
Labor plans to invest $78 million to quickly qualify 6000 tradies to boost home building. Picture: Getty
Labor’s plan to fast-track qualifications
Labor announced it will invest $78 million to fast track the qualification of 6000 tradies to build more homes across Australia, if re-elected this year.
The funding will establish the Advanced Entry Trades Training program to help underqualified workers get the qualifications they need for their work.
This includes current industry workers without apprenticeships and skilled migrants in Australia whose qualifications are unrecognised.
The program will support these workers to gain formal qualifications through recognition of prior learning and targeted training delivered by TAFEs and other Registered Training Organisations (RTOs).
By helping these 6000 tradies, Labor says it will help reach its goal to build 1.2 million new homes in five years. It will also help deliver its recent election commitment to build 100,000 homes for first-home buyers.
The program is expected to start in 2026.
The Coalition pledges a $260 million investment to establish 12 Australian technical colleges. Picture: Getty
According to analysis from construction body Master Builders Australia, for every new qualified tradie, an extra 2.4 homes can be built, and this program would fast-track that goal.
“When seeking to attract more skilled trades into Australia, it’s crucial to also look at the talented individuals already here who are stuck in limbo because of an overly complex system. This funding will help remove those barriers,” Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said.
“It’s great to see the program will be delivered not just through TAFEs but also high-quality RTOs across the country. These providers are essential to ensuring the training is flexible, fast, and accessible.”
The Coalition’s network of technical colleges
An elected Coalition government aims to invest $260 million to deliver 12 Australian technical colleges, to encourage more people into trades.
Technical colleges are specialist skills schools for students in years 10-12 or 11-12, who are enrolled in a school-based apprenticeship or traineeship as well as academic and business courses that lead to a Year 12 certificate.
These colleges would roll out across the country, but initially the Coalition plans to roll these out first in regions with skills shortages.
The announcement follows the Coalition’s proposal for a mortgage tax deduction for first-home buyers of new homes and its plans to accelerate approvals for new housing projects.
Master Builders Australia welcomed the measure but said it is important for the initiative to complement existing school-based and other vocational educational pathways.
“Technical colleges play an important part of the skills education mix and support students in learning the necessary skills to start a career in building and construction, while not giving up the opportunity to attain the high school certificate,” Ms Wawn said.
“Over the next five years, the industry will require more than 500,000 new entrants to replace those retiring and to expand its workforce sufficiently to meet future housing and infrastructure needs.
“While the industry supports efforts to re-introduce an Australian Technical College model, this must not be at the expense of other measures like free VET.”
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