Jobs and Skills Australia, an independent advisory body, is still considering whether to include some construction trades in its draft skills priority list for migrants, amid a growing shortfall of workers needed to meet Australia’s housing targets.
Instead, the draft list includes professions such as yoga instructors, martial artists, and dog handlers.
Jobs and Skills Australia – which provides advice to the Australian Government on the labour market – will be undergoing further consultation with the construction industry.
Some of the construction workers not included in the list are bricklayers, stonemason and plasterers; however tradies like painters, joiners, and carpenters are on a list for consultation.
The inclusion of some construction workers in the updated streamlined skilled occupation visa category is coming under scrutiny from industry lobby groups and unions calling for prioritisation of Australian jobs.
The Australian Constructors Association CEO Jon Davies said that the lack of support for tradie workers was critical.
“At a time when industry productivity is at its lowest in 60 years, the demand for construction workers has never been higher,” said Davis.
“At the same time, the industry is facing significant workforce imbalances,” he said.
The draft skills list release comes at a critical time for the Albanese government which is facing a shortfall of 90,000 construction workers to meet its goal of building 1.2 million new homes by the end of the decade.
BuildSkills Australia, which was commissioned by Labor to help support the construction workforce, has emphasised the government should move fast to meet the community’s increasing housing demands.
In recent months, housing industry groups have raised alarm over the feasibility of the government’s ambitious plans, particularly concerning the Housing Australia Future Fund.
The fund aims to construct 40,000 affordable homes but is hindered by stringent accreditation requirements.
Only 500 of the 400,000 construction companies registered in Australia are accredited to work on government-funded projects, severely limiting the pool of eligible builders.
Further complicating the housing crisis is recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which reported a 0.3% decline in the number of dwellings approved for construction in April compared to March.
This indicates that the housing supply shortage is unlikely to abate in the near future.
“If the construction industry is to survive and thrive, we need to find ways to attract more people into the industry,” said Davis.
This post has been updated to clarify that Jobs and Skills Australia is an independent advisory body providing advice to the Australian Government on the labour market.
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