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Australia has just seen its two weakest years of new home commencements in over a decade, meaning ongoing shortages of skilled trades are not being caused by home building activity according to the Housing Industry Association. Source: Timberbiz The HIA Trades Report released this week provides a quarterly review of the availability of skilled trades and any demand pressures on trades operating in the residential building industry. “Despite the low volume of home building, skills shortages are persisting on the back of labour demands from other construction sectors and the wider economy,” HIA Chief Economist Tim Reardon said. “Excluding the extremes of the pandemic, one would have to go back to before the GFC to find trades shortages as acute as they are now,” he said. Mr Reardon said that home building was set to gain momentum across Australia as interest rates fell, and this would further add to demand for skilled labour. Activity had already been increasing in Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia on the back of strong population growth, low unemployment, tight rental markets and rising prices, and recovering real incomes. “The shortage of skilled trades across Australia persists in every capital city and region,” Mr Reardon said. “An increase in home building will further add to demand for skilled labour and put further upward pressure on labour prices. “Despite the expected increase in home building, commencements will remain well below those necessary to achieve 1.2 million homes over five years,” he said. “Home building activity has contracted significantly in the Sydney basin, Melbourne and the ACT, but even this has not been sufficient to arrest the rise in trades prices nationally.” Mr Reardon said the result of these shortages was that the price of trades had increased again by 5.5% in the 12 months to March 2025, compared with the broader Australian wage growth closer to 3%. “Reforms to skilled migration, including a dedicated construction visa, are needed to attract skilled tradespeople from overseas during cyclical peaks in activity. “Of the 166,830 temporary skilled workers (Visa Subclass 482) in Australia at the end of 2024, only 4,229 were in home building trade occupations,” he said. “Over the medium-to-long term, a domestic workforce development strategy is required that promotes careers in construction to students, recent leavers and Australians more broadly, male and female, young and old. “Greater support is also needed for apprentices, the public and private organisations that train them, and the businesses that provide them with supervision and on-site experience,” Mr Reardon said. Every market continues to have a shortage of skilled trades, with the worst shortages tending to be in the markets showing the strongest improvements in home building activity. Perth (-0.84) and Brisbane (-0.83) had the most acute shortages among the capital cities, with Sydney (-0.39), Adelaide (-0.38) and Melbourne (-0.35) more modest. Across the regions, the most acute shortage was in regional South Australia (-0.67), followed by regional Victoria (-0.55), regional Western Australia (-0.49), and regional New South Wales (-0.27), with regional Queensland (-0.04) very close to neutral. By trade, two occupations emerged with a surplus of trades for the first time since September 2020: electrical (+0.05) and plumbing (+0.03). Site preparation is also continuing to improve, with a modest shortage of -0.14, while the readings were more acute for other trades, especially bricklaying (-0.93) and ceramic tiling (-0.91).

Structural glulaminated timber manufacturer Techlam has partnered with Woodspan to ensure the continued availability of engineered timber products, following a recent operational disruption at Woodspan’s New Plymouth facility in New Zealand. Source: Timberbiz The new collaboration between Techlam, one of New Zealand’s largest glulam timber manufacturers and Woodspan, known for its innovative parallel laminated timber (PLT) panels, has been established to maintain a stable supply for customers and offer continuity during a time of change. Woodspan’s PLT panels, made from New Zealand-grown radiata pine, are used extensively in floor and roof structures thanks to their strength and quick installation. However, due to a fire that impacted their CNC machinery, Woodspan has temporarily closed its existing production site. “Partnering with Techlam is a strategic move that enables us to keep supplying our customers with the solutions they rely on,” Tom Boon, Chief Executive of Taranakipine Group and co-founder of Woodspan, said. “This partnership allows us to enhance our offerings and reach a broader audience.” Techlam, based in Levin, manufactures a full range of structural laminated timber products, widely recognised for their performance, aesthetics and versatility in both domestic and international markets. The company’s advanced 6-Axis CNC line will now be used to help deliver Woodspan orders with high accuracy and efficiency. “We are excited to partner with Woodspan to deliver exceptional wood products to our customers,” says Brett Hamilton, Managing Director of Techlam. “By combining our glulam expertise with Woodspan’s PLT solutions, we’re creating a stronger, more resilient supply model for timber construction.” Customers will benefit from streamlined procurement, improved design flexibility and integrated structural solutions that simplify project delivery. This alliance brings together two trusted New Zealand manufacturers with a shared focus on innovation, quality and customer service.

  The EPA in New South Wales has introduced a series of videos with more technical information to help landholders and harvesting contractors in applying the PNF Codes of Practice. Source: Timberbiz The technical series playlist expands on the concepts in the introductory clips, with more technical information to help landholders and harvesting contractors in applying the PNF Codes of Practice. The video playlist provides an overview of the legal framework underpinning PNF in NSW, introducing the PNF Code of Practice which sets environmental and operational standards for timber harvesting on private land. The video series provides information on a range of issues including constructing drainage features and roll-over cross banks, silviculture and protecting threatened ecological communities. Videos 1-5: Protecting threatened species and their habitat, old growth forest and rainforest. Videos 6-9: Threatened ecological communities Videos 10-13: Tips on constructing different types of drainage Video 14: Removing earth windrows to avoid soil erosion Videos 15-18: Constructing a roll-over cross bank Videos 19-22: Constructing and using simple infrastructure such as log and timber bridges Videos 23-25: Snig tracks and log dumps Videos 26-29: Silviculture and forest management There are also introductory videos for people getting started in private native forestry. You can access all videos here.    

The Housing Industry Association has welcomed the announcement of the new ministerial cabinet and in particular the expansion of the housing portfolio to take in the future cities planning and a separate special envoy focused on social housing and homelessness. Source: Timberbiz Clare O’Neil was appointed Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness and Minister for Cities following Labor’s win at the Federal Election. “HIA has called on the next term of government to specifically focus on increasing housing supply with dedicated programs targeted towards boosting private housing and rentals,” HIA Managing Director Jocelyn Martin said. “By having a dedicated special envoy focused on social housing and homelessness, this will provide Housing Minister, Clare O’Neil with the ability to pull out all stops and focus on fast tracking the implementation of the key housing commitments set out in the lead up to the election to boost housing supply and increase home ownership rates. “HIA is additionally pleased to see the focus on industry, innovation, small business and productivity in the new Ministerial appointments.” Tim Ayres is the newly appointed Minister of Industry and Innovation, Anne Aly as Minister for Small Business and Andrew Charlton as the Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy and Andrew Leigh as the Assistant Minister for Productivity. “In February this year the Productivity Commission released a comprehensive housing construction productivity report titled – Can we fix it? Which outlined the policy directions needed for improving productivity including reducing regulatory burden, streamlining and speeding up approval processes, supporting innovation and improving workforce flexibility,” Ms Martin said. “This report provides a comprehensive policy blueprint for reform and HIA is calling on these new Ministerial appointments to action the recommendations from this report as part of their first order priorities. “In doing so it can substantially turn the dial to address the nation’s critical housing shortages and support our industry to build the homes Australia desperately needs.”

Australia’s forest industries welcome the reappointment of Julie Collins as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry following Labor’s win in the Federal Election. Source: Timberbiz “Minister Collins has been an ardent advocate for forestry and the supply chain, and we look forward to working with her again this term,” Australian Forest Products Association CEO Diana Hallam said. Other key appointments for the forestry sector included Senator Murray Watt’s move to the Environment portfolio and the Clare O’Neil’s re-appointment as Minister for Housing. The AFPA also welcomed Senator Anthony Chisholm’s return as Assistant Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Senator Tim Ayres’ appointment as Minister for Industry and Innovation. “On behalf of Australia’s forest industries, I welcome back and congratulate Julie Collins on her re-appointment as our Minister,” Ms Hallam said. “Julie has an outstanding record of stewardship and delivery for our sector, and we look forward to continuing our positive and close working relationship. “We also welcome Murray Watt to the Environment portfolio. As a former Minister for Forestry, Senator Watt has an excellent understanding of our industries and regulatory framework, so we look forward to working constructively with him also,” she said. “It’s a very important time for the forestry portfolio, as the sector works to realise our climate and manufacturing potential while facing numerous challenges including securing resource supply, dealing with a depressed construction market along with ensuring we have a skilled workforce geared to needs.” Ms Hallam said the AFPA would now get back to work with Ms Collins and other key members of the Executive to discuss the soon-to-be-released Timber Fibre Strategy, how the forestry sector can maximise benefits provided by the new ReMade in Australia brand and be part of the solution on housing sector initiatives announced during the election campaign, and also to broadly ensure forestry and forest products is understood and decisions are made with the best interests of our sector in mind. Tasmanian Forest Products Association Chief Executive Officer, Nick Steel said it was pleasing to see Ms Collins return to the portfolio that oversees the industry in Tasmania, which employs more than 5500 people across the state. “It’s also great news that the vital position of forestry minister will continue to be held by a Member of Parliament from Tasmania,” Mr Steel said. “Forestry is an essential industry in Tasmania, so we welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement that a Tasmanian MP will oversee the industry in Canberra. “As we saw in the last Parliament, Minister Collins brings a wealth of knowledge to the Ministry. In the last Parliament, Minister Collins provided excellent representation for our forest industry in Canberra. “Minister Collins worked closely with industry on the policy and funding that delivered for the sector. We look forward to working with Minister Collins over the coming months and years to continue to deliver for our respected, responsible and renewable industry,” Mr Steel said. “The forestry industry in Tasmania is still in a critical phase with the coming together of different areas of government policy, including climate change, the economy, jobs and housing. “The Tasmanian forestry industry is critical to all these national and international policy issues. We look forward to working with Minister Collins and the Albanese Government on the role our sector can play in moving Australia forward,” Mr Steel said.