One of the most effective ways to help ease the housing supply crisis is to attract more
workers to the building industry, according to the Housing Industry Association.
It welcomed the announcement of a National Skills Agreement, which will invest $12.6 billion
to expand and transform the Vocational Education and Training sector, to address critical
skills shortages.
HIA Managing Director, Jocelyn Martin, says if the industry is to build the 1.2 million
additional homes the Government wants delivered in the next five years, more trained
workers are needed.
She says the funding will help train and upskill workers in national priority areas including
construction.
HIA chief economist, Tim Reardon, says there are four key steps to improving Australia’s
housing shortage.
He says Governments of all levels need to stop making new homes more expensive through
taxes and levies, they need to attract more investors to the sector, increase skilled labour
and co-ordinate action across all levels of Government.