Millions to fight tradie shortages

The federal government will fund an additional 20,000 fee-free TAFE places in next week’s budget in an effort to boost a chronic shortage of tradies plaguing Australia’s construction sector.

Labor will invest a total of $90.6m for an extra 15,000 free TAFE and VET places and 5000 pre-apprenticeships to increase a pipeline of skilled workers in the construction and housing industry.

Skills and Training Minister Brendan O’Connor said the new investment would support more people to enter secure and well-paid work and strengthen Australia’s housing supply.

“This is a great opportunity for people to gain a trade while accessing government incentives and reduce cost of living pressures through more affordable housing,” Mr O’Connor said.

Millions to fight tradie shortages

The new 15,000 TAFE places will be across different roles in housing and construction and will be allocated based on what skills are most needed in each state and territory.

The 5000 pre-apprenticeships will lead to a pipeline of traditional building trade apprenticeships critical to the housing and construction sectors, such as carpenters, plumbers, and bricklayers.

According to a report released last year by Infrastructure Australia, trade and labourer shortages are growing at the fastest rate and will remain acute until 2025.

Trades such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical work and masonry are among the most affected areas.

The budget will also include $1.8m to streamline skills assessments for about 1900 potential migrants from countries with comparable qualifications to fill jobs in construction, and prioritise the processing of around 2600 Trades Recognition Australia skills assessments in targeted occupations.

In a recent state of the housing system report, the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council called Labor’s goal of building 1.2 million new homes by 2029 “suitably ambitious” and predicted only 943,000 could be built in the next five years.

The report found migration, raising interest rates, skills shortages, construction company insolvencies, cost inflation and weak consumer confidence had all contributed to weaker-than-needed housing supply.

Housing minister Julie Collins said the country needed more skilled tradespeople to build affordable homes for renters and aspiring homeowners.

“Our government knows that building more homes is the best way to address Australia’s housing challenges, which is why we have an ambitious national target to build 1.2 million homes,” she said.