Australia’s housing crisis is in crisis and the Federal Government is looking at new ways to assist builders and construction companies with changes to the skilled visa system to make it easier for builders and other relevant trades to migrate.
Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Tony Burke said that the government is “determined to tackle the skills shortage, especially in the construction sector”.
“This is an important step to attract qualified workers to help build more homes.”
According to Master Builders Australia more than 500,000 extra tradies are needed if the government is to build the promised 1.2 million homes by 2029. However, it is well to note that Australia is not the only country with a housing crisis – Canada, the US, New Zealand and many European countries are also facing the same problems. There is competition in the builder’s market space.
The Property Council of Australia welcomed the announcement of the Australian Government’s Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) which came out on 7 December and included some housing construction trades. The CSOL issued was based on labour market analysis and stakeholder consultation undertaken by Jobs and Skills Australia. It applies to the Core Skills stream of the Skills in Demand visa which has now replaced the Temporary Skills Shortage visa and the Direct Entry stream of the permanent Employer Nomination Scheme.
Property Council Chief Executive Mike Zorbas said the reworked occupations list, alongside the government’s emphasis on more TAFE training, can help close the genuine skills shortage in the construction industry.
“Over the last 20 years, only two percent of migrants coming to Australia had visas for construction jobs during a surge of welcome population growth, mega projects and housing need,” Mr Zorbas said.
“Industry urgently requires more workers to plug construction skills gaps and deliver critical infrastructure and housing projects already in the pipeline.
Streamlining the visa process to attract additional talent and skills needed to build the homes we need is vital.
We need to become a magnet for global construction talent, and we commend the government for listening to the concerns of the industry and taking these first steps,” he said.
Australia’s trades shortages include qualified bricklayers, stonemasons, carpenters, roof tilers and plumbers. From June 2022 to June 2023 skills shortages increased by 12.5 percent and the latest data indicates 33 percent of all occupations are in short supply. However, many trade occupations did not make it to the new CSOL which may mean that a solution for the shortages is in a future Construction Industry Labour Agreement. The Labour Agreement program has been successfully implemented for other industries.
Photo by Arnaud Mesureur on Unsplash
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