With the housing crisis set to be a key issue in the upcoming federal election campaign, a new report has noted how a lack of construction workers is impacting Australia's housing stock. The warning from the productivity commission comes as the country's 2029 target of one-point-two million new homes remains off track, with an apprentice downturn exacerbating workforce issues.
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00:00Sweating it out in the Darwin heat, third-year carpentry apprentice Johnny Fish couldn't
00:08imagine doing anything else.
00:10I definitely like being out in the weather, I like using my hands, like I said, it's
00:15a place for me.
00:18Across town at TAFE, Cooper Heidemann is another who loves his work.
00:22I want to stay in here for my career, I want to progress through the ranks and one day
00:26be a manager.
00:27Although both NTA chippies are destined for long careers in construction, the same can't
00:32be said for everyone who enters the sector.
00:36In 2023, just under 42,000 people commenced an apprenticeship in construction, a 22% drop
00:43compared to the year before.
00:46Completions were also down by 15%, with just over 21,400 people finishing an apprenticeship
00:53in 2023.
00:55The apprentice downturn comes as a Productivity Commission report this week noted the current
00:59workforce is insufficient to meet policy objectives, such as the nation's aim of building 1.2
01:06million homes by 2029.
01:09We're probably short somewhere in the order of 120,000 to 130,000 workers based on Build
01:14Skills Australia's data.
01:17Certainly that lack of capacity and indeed a lack of productivity has played a big part
01:21in the current housing crisis.
01:23With many people priced out of the market, housing is a key issue ahead of this year's
01:28federal election.
01:30And although a larger workforce is crucial for boosting supply, it's not the only factor
01:35at play.
01:36We have a situation at the moment where we saw construction costs rise by about 40% over
01:42the last few years.
01:44It means that a lot of projects are just not financially viable.
01:47A crisis on the mind of voters ahead of the upcoming federal election.