Skilled migrants are crucial to housing industry, says HIA

Last week, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Labor plans to tighten the visa system for short-term skilled migrants. 

"Labor will crackdown on 457-style visa rorts to ensure local workers are given the first shot at local jobs," Labor said at the time.

However, the peak association for the home building industry is arguing that changes to the ‘457’ skilled working visa will not address the bigger problem of how to fill the shortage of skilled trades people available to build new homes and apartments.

"The focus of any reforms should be on creating a new visa category for skilled workers that is not bound to an employer but can operate as a trade contractor independent of a single employer," said HIA managing director, Graham Wolfe.

Mr Wolfe explained that the housing industry is more vulnerable to skill shortages than many other industry sectors due to an ageing labour force, the physical nature of work, the ongoing demand for new housing and the often cyclical nature of activity.

"The housing industry is vital to the wellbeing of Australian society. Australia will need to build over 2.3 million houses by 2030 to keep up with demand. In the last year alone there was $108 billion worth of residential construction carried out in Australia," said Mr Wolfe. 

He judged that worker sponsorship programs fail to recognise that trade contractors have always operated their own business.

"The current visa models simply don’t suit the housing industry’s long accepted approach to doing business which relies heavily on the efficient and affordable model of independent contracting."

The group called on all parties to remove the caps and limits that currently exist on skilled and business migration categories and to introduce a new skilled migration category for independent contractors in the residential building industry.

"A well thought out migration policy coupled with a strong sector to train future trades people in Australia will go a long way to helping supply the homes we need over the next decade," concluded Mr Wolfe.

A Labor party spokesperson said last week that there are 1 million underemployed Australians wanting more work.

"Labor believes there is no excuse for a skills shortage to last one day longer that it takes to train an Australian to do that job, and we’ll train local workers through our plans to invest in TAFE and higher education," the spokesperson said.