Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) welcomes Government’s progress on its Migration Strategy with the recent announcement of plans for a recalibrated Points Test program.
“Our industry is struggling with dramatic shortages of the skilled workers needed to build the homes for the people of Australia. The recent release of the Government’s discussion paper outlining a series of reforms to create a better planned migration program, is an important step in building our future workforce,” said Col Dutton, UDIA National President.
Construction vacancies are currently at 68% higher than pre-Covid, and apprenticeships while welcome, are a medium-term solution. We need a permanent program and the call for submissions from industries, as outlined in the Government’s discussion paper, will help identify the skills we need.
‘The skilled migration to date has been absolutely necessary for the economy to build back our capacity, but it has not achieved the significant increases needed in the skilled housing labour force,” said Col Dutton.
UDIA welcomes a recalibrated Points Test to assist in replacing the backlog of industry’s lost capacity experienced since Covid.
“This Government initiative is consistent with a key plank of our 2024 Policy Platform, Supply, Support Sustainability… pathways to productivity and we forward to working with Government to boost industry capacity,” said Mr Dutton.
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Media Enquiries:
Deanna Lane | Director, National Media & Communications | 0416 295 898 | media@udia.com.au