Australia’s construction industry is facing a growing workforce crisis, with new data showing apprentice numbers have fallen to a five-year low as the sector struggles to attract and retain the skilled workers needed to deliver the nation’s housing and infrastructure pipeline.

Master Builders Australia National Director for Policy and Legal Melissa Byrne said the decline was deeply concerning, warning that workforce shortages could undermine the Federal Government’s target of building 1.2 million homes by mid-2029.

“We’re looking at workforce shortages in the order of 300,000 workers needed to deliver the infrastructure pipeline that we have and over 115,000 workers just needed in the housing sector to build the homes we need to meet these targets,” Ms Byrne told 6PR Radio.

She said the latest figures showed the construction sector was “losing more than we’re gaining”, with apprentice completion rates remaining a major challenge.

“We don’t want to be doomsayers, but it appears that way,” Ms Byrne said.

“Our completion rates aren’t great. They sit at about 50 per cent and what these figures show is that we’re losing more than we’re gaining.”

Ms Byrne said the challenge was not only attracting young people into trades but keeping them engaged throughout the three- to four-year apprenticeship period.

“There’s a lot of young people that try it out and don’t like it,” she said, adding that construction faced difficulties competing with jobs that offered flexible or work-from-home arrangements.

“You can’t offer a work from home option in the construction industry, so it’s very hard to attract people to the industry in the first instance.”

Cost-of-living pressures were also identified as a barrier for apprentices, although Ms Byrne said low wages were not the only factor affecting retention.

She said many employers paid above award rates to keep talented apprentices engaged.

“Feedback from our members is that often to keep good young people on the tools, you pay them better than the minimum rates anyway.”

Ms Byrne said apprentices typically became financially productive for employers around their third year, after gaining greater independence and technical skills. “It’s generally about year three of the four years,” she said.

“That’s how long members tell us it takes for them to become more autonomous and carry out tasks more independently.”

Master Builders Australia has called for greater government support for apprentices and employers, including increased investment in Group Training Organisations (GTOs).

Under the GTO model, apprentices are directly employed by the organisation and placed with host employers, with mentoring and support provided throughout their training.

Ms Byrne said the model helped improve apprentice retention by providing additional guidance and matching workers with suitable employers.

“We’d like to see more support for that model,” she said.

“Equally, we’d like to see more incentives and financial support for both employers and the apprentices to encourage people into the trades.”

The comments come as Australia faces mounting pressure to expand its construction workforce amid major housing and infrastructure commitments, with industry leaders warning that a shortage of skilled tradespeople could slow delivery of new homes and projects.

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