As the federal budget once again focuses on boosting housing supply, one critical issue keeps resurfacing. Australia does not have enough skilled tradespeople to fix and renovate existing homes, let alone build the new homes being promised.

The recent week’s budget promised some measures to address these issues, including

A$75.1 million over four years from 2026–27 for a new trade skills assessment system
$5.6 million over three years from 2026–27 for a new program to recognise skills of people who trained in a trade overseas but aren’t in Australia on a skilled visa (they might, for instance, be here on a different type of visa).

This will help overseas trained tradies get licensed quicker and working in Australia.

The Housing Industry Association lobby group has welcomed this, but also flagged concerns about cuts to programs aimed at encouraging employers to hire apprentices.

And even with extra overseas-trained tradies getting licensed here, the problems are so longstanding it will take some time to make even a small dent in the shortage.

Electricians, plumbers, carpenters and other construction trades will remain hard to find. If you’re trying to build, that often means longer waits and higher costs.

Industry groups estimate Australia will need around 116,700 additional construction workers to meet the government’s target of building 1.2 million new homes over five years.

So how did we get here and what are the factors driving the tradie shortage?

1. Young Australians are not attracted to the building trades

For too long, apprenticeships – and vocational education and training in general – have been seen as less important than school subjects that lead to university.

Teachers, careers advisers, parents and members of the media often present post-school academic pathways to university as more valuable. One reason is that many of these people have never done an apprenticeship themselves.

The jobs connected to apprenticeships are often viewed as low status, and as involving more demanding physical or manual work.

Employers have not helped this image issue by insisting on low pay for apprentices while training.

We’ve seen efforts at short-term fixes, such as the federal government’s recent move to double incentive payments to $10,000 for eligible housing construction apprentices.

However, we still aren’t getting enough young people taking up apprenticeships.

And this week’s budget featured changes to measures that aim to incentivise employers to take on apprentices. Housing Industry Australia has said it’s concerned that:

incentives are now limited to small and medium sized enterprises and Group Training Organisations. Large residential building employers will no longer be eligible for direct apprentice incentives […] reducing incentives risks discouraging apprentice uptake, particularly for employers already training at scale.

2. Too many apprentices are still dropping out

Another major ongoing problem is apprentice attrition.

Yes, recent data shows completion rates for trade apprenticeships have improved in construction. But too many apprentices still leave before qualifying.

The reasons are often less about the training itself, and more about low pay, poor working conditions and negative workplace experiences.

Research suggests improving workplace conditions may be crucial to reducing attrition.

3. Overseas skills are not being recognised quickly enough

Industry and policy groups have long criticised Australia’s slow and costly processes for recognising overseas trade qualifications.

Evidence suggests only a very small share of recent migrants are working in residential construction.

A key issue is that skilled trades are heavily regulated and require formal licensing, gap training and assessment against Australian standards.

Yes, last week’s budget does promise $85.2 million over four years to get migrant tradies working on job sites sooner.

Text from the budget showing changes to the skills assessment system

But this will take some time to make a difference. And with net overseas migration expected to fall in Australia in the next few years, it’s clear this won’t be a silver bullet for the tradie shortage.

4. Skilled workers are being attracted to other industries

Another challenge is retaining tradespeople in the residential construction sector as their skills are also sought elsewhere.

During Australia’s mining construction boom, many tradespeople were lured into the mining sector. Mining isn’t what it was 15 years ago, but mining firms continue to offer high salaries and attractive conditions to people who might otherwise be tradies in housing construction.

Demand for skilled tradespeople is also high in other infrastructure projects, such as transport and communications projects.

A boom in construction of data centres is also wooing many tradies away from residential building.

This is especially true for electricians, air conditioning technicians and telecommunications installers.

5. Many can’t find housing in regional and rural Australia

The shortage in tradespeople is affecting some parts of Australia more than others.

In many rural and regional communities, many tradespeople struggle to find affordable housing close to work.

This makes it harder to attract and retain workers outside major cities.

A large pipeline of renewable energy and transmission line projects in the regions is also straining local labour pools in regional areas, luring tradespeople away from residential work.

These shortages become especially clear after disasters such as floods or cyclones; repairs are often slow, in part due to difficulties in finding tradespeople.

We can’t fix housing without more tradies

The factors affecting the shortage of tradespeople are interrelated and complex.

It will take an innovative, ambitious, whole-of-system approach – involving all levels of government, industry, educators, and training providers – to correct these trends.

Until then, Australia simply won’t have the tradies it needs to build the homes it wants.

by Pi-Shen Seet, Edith Cowan University and Janice Jones, Flinders University.

Image: Envato

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Architecture & Design Team

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