The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of a Budget commitment of $90.6 million to boost the number of skilled workers for the housing sector.
HIA Managing Director Jocelyn Martin said that measures to help attract more apprentices into the industry, such as fee-free training and streamlining the visa program for in-demand trades was a positive step forward.
“The Federal Government has committed to a target of building 1.2 million homes over the next five years, which HIA broadly supports given Australia’s well documented housing shortages,” Ms Martin said.
“One of the key issues in building these much needed homes are having an adequate workforce, and without this the government will fall well short of its housing target.
“It is therefore pleasing to see the budget’s commitment to start to address these skills shortages in our sector, as well as the recognition of this as a key area of the government’s focus going forward.”
Ms Martin said that while the HIA recognised the challenges brought about by the lack of skills won’t be fixed overnight, it was encouraging to see dedicated government funding to help bring more workers into the industry.
“HIA lodged our pre-budget submission outlining key initiatives that could be taken to address the skills shortages, and it is pleasing that a number of these have been picked as part of [last week’s] announcement,” she said.
She added that a key measure the government should include in the budget was the continuation of financial incentives for employers to take on an apprentice.
“Without an employer, there is no apprentice. The financial incentives currently in place that have encouraged the employment of an apprentice, and improve retention, have proved invaluable to helping the construction industry access more workers,” Ms Martin said.
“At a time when it is critical to avoid anything which will impact the ability to supply homes, HIA is encouraging the Australian Government to maintain the current national funding arrangements for employees to take on apprentices, alongside the budget commitments announced [last week].”
She added that a strong construction workforce was the only way that Australia would ever solve the problem of housing affordability.
“If the Federal Government is to realise its goal of 1.2 million much-needed homes in five years, the HIA strongly recommends the government adopts the recommendations contained in HIA’s budget submission and make housing a centrepiece of this year’s budget,” Ms Martin said.
