Urban Development Institute of Australia welcomes the Albanese Government’s announcement of the expansion of the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) to include housing construction trades.
“The Government’s new targeted focus on the core skills we need, by expanding the list to include migration of skilled workers who will make a significant contribution to the Australian economy, including in the housing sector, is welcomed by our industry,” said Col Dutton, UDIA National President.
The CSOL is based on labour market analysis and stakeholder consultation undertaken by Jobs and Skills Australia. It will apply to the Core Skills stream of the Skills in Demand visa.
“With construction industry employment 38% below the long run average, this is a vital intervention to ensure we build the capacity needed to deliver on the National Accord Housing target,” said Col Dutton.
“A lack of skilled labour is one key impediment to housing delivery and we commend this decision to better focus skilled migration towards the housing construction jobs we desperately need to get housing supply and prices under control,” said Col Dutton.
“This is a welcome change that will help alleviate one of the many upfront barriers to housing delivery. To be truly effective, we also need to see additional productivity boosting measures to remove housing roadblocks including more enabling infrastructure and streamlined approvals to unlock housing,” said Col Dutton.
UDIA looks forward to working with Government to ensure these measures drive greater housing capacity.
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Media Enquiries:
Deanna Lane | Director, National Media & Communications | 0416 295 898 | media@udia.com.au