Australia Faces Shortfall of 83,000 Tradespeople as Housing Target Slips Further Away

Housing construction industry leaders warn Australia’s skilled migration system is failing to deliver the tradespeople needed to build the Labor government’s target of 1.2 million new homes.

The Joint Standing Committee on Migration heard evidence from the Housing Industry Association (HIA), Master Builders Australia, Master Electricians Australia, and Master Plumbers Australia and New Zealand (MPANZ), at the inquiry’s 10th public hearing into the value of skilled migration.

The construction workforce shortage is already a major constraint on Australia’s ability to increase housing supply. A July analysis reported that around 20,000 construction jobs remained unfilled, while the number of construction apprentices in training had fallen to a five-year low.

HIA Managing Director Jocelyn Martin welcomed the government’s acknowledgement that construction was a priority but said the system remains “difficult to use,” expensive, and slow.

HIA’s written submission (pdf) says the industry needs 83,000 more tradespeople across 12 key occupations to lift home building to 240,000 homes a year. It says only 7,360 workers, or 1.1 percent of that trade workforce, hold Skills in Demand visas.

The hearing came a day after Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke used a National Press Club address on Sept. 17 to name construction a priority sector for migration reform, alongside health care, education, law enforcement, defence, resources, agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing.

Burke said the changes would “ensure that our migration system can be better targeted to the current needs of Australia.”

Net overseas migration has fallen 47 percent from its post-COVID-19 peak to 292,000, and is forecast to fall further, to 225,000, by 2027/28.

Builder Relays Struggles With Migration System

Cameron Lade, general manager of West Australian builder Summit Homes Group, told the committee his company has 162 skilled migrant visas stuck in the system.

Eight have been waiting more than 14 months, 64 for more than eight months, and 90 for more than six months.

Lade said Summit Homes spent $1 million refitting a derelict health facility in Perth to house 75 overseas workers. The building remains empty.

“We’ve spent the money and haven’t got any workers in it,” he said.

Summit Homes grew from 1,600 to 2,000 home starts this year using 100 overseas tradespeople.

It had planned to expand to 2,500 starts but paused the plan when its visa programme stalled after July 25. That is the date on which Ministerial Direction 119 took effect and reset processing priorities for skilled visas.

The direction ranks construction in the third of five priority tiers—but only for applicants already in Australia. Offshore construction applicants fall to the lowest tier.

Master Builders Warns of 900,000 Worker Shortfall

Master Builders Australia’s national director of policy and legal, Melissa Byrne, told the committee apprenticeship commencements fell 3.9 percent in the past year, while the number of apprentices in training—though still over 100,000—fell 5.7 percent.

The group’s workforce blueprint, released earlier this month, projects a massive shortfall of more than 900,000 construction workers by 2035, with the industry already 141,000 workers short of current demand.

Only about 7,000 skilled visa holders currently work in core construction trades nationally, Byrne said, while 18,400 migrants already in Australia with construction qualifications are working below their skill level.

30,000 Electricians, 100,000 Plumbers Needed

Meanwhile, Master Electricians Australia’s national policy lead, Georgia Holmes, told the committee the industry needs 32,000 to 42,000 more electricians by 2030.

The association’s written submission (pdf) says overseas electricians from comparable countries, including the United Kingdom, can face supervision periods of up to 12 months in some states despite holding broadly equivalent qualifications.

Joe Prevedello, chief executive of Master Plumbers ACT, representing MPANZ, said Australia has 107,000 plumbers but needs another 20,000 by 2028 to meet demand, citing Build Skills Australia estimates.

Witnesses also criticised the government’s decision to let apprenticeship incentive payments lapse in December 2025 with little warning. Holmes of Master Electricians said the cost of training one electrical apprentice runs to about $250,000, including lost productivity and unbillable hours.

While the HIA’s Martin urged politicians to stop treating migration numbers as a political football.

“If it means the NOM (net overseas migration) is higher in 12 months’ time because we have more construction workers, we should be celebrating,” she told the committee.

The hearing also referenced Master Builders Australia modelling showing a skilled migrant tradesperson can contribute to building 21 detached homes over a 30-year career—analysis The Epoch Times reported on in August.

In July, Cotality head of research Gerard Burg, a former senior economist at the National Australia Bank, told The Epoch Times that increasing the construction workforce would be a key step towards easing pressure on housing supply, but cautioned that this should come both from carefully targeted skilled migration and increasing training opportunities for Australian workers.

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