A trade review has revealed that lingering worker shortages are seeing trade rates continue to rise following the recent HIA Trades Report providing a quarterly review of the availability of skilled trades and any demand pressures on trades operating in the residential building industry.

HIA executive director – Future Workforce Geordan Murray says that although the shortage of qualified workers persists compared to before the pandemic, builders are experiencing less difficulty scheduling skilled trade workers on their sites as the number of new homes under construction continues to fall.

“The acute shortage of skilled trades workers is dissipating, although shortages persist and remain problematic in most areas,” Geordan says.

“The improved availability of trades workers is largely contained to the two largest east coast states where the larger declines in home building activity have occurred. Demand for skilled workers remains strong in Western Australia, South Australia and in Queensland, primarily in the capital city markets in these states.”

The lack of skilled labour has continued to increase trade costs, which is driving up the cost of new homes, according to Geordan, with the fiscal year 2023 to 2024 showing skilled trades having a 5.5% price rise.

Although there is a strong demand for qualified tradespeople, these workers are wary about the prospect of negative industry conditions in the following year, resulting in companies hesitating about hiring apprentices.

“The trades workers who employ apprentices are typically running small businesses and their livelihoods are susceptible to the volatility of cycles in industry activity. They are very conscious of the risk of committing to employing and training an apprentice for four years when there is uncertainty about the pipeline of work ahead,” Geordan says.

“As a consequence of the rising uncertainty, the number of apprentices commencing apprenticeships in a construction trade has dropped sharply, with latest data showing that construction trade apprentice commencements are down by 17% compared to the year earlier.”

Geordan says creating training opportunities for local workers should be the priority while the government should explore other ways to enable the industry to use the skilled migration system to address skill shortages.