The State Government will deliver a $47.6 million boost to Western Australia’s building and construction workforce in the 2023—24 State Budget.
This includes a range of new initiatives to ramp up local training and attraction of skilled workers from overseas.
The additional funding is targeted to further grow the State’s residential construction workforce and accelerate delivery of the current pipeline of homes, as well as expand industry capacity to deliver new housing supply to keep pace with population growth in WA.
The new initiatives include the following.
- Other new measures in the 2023—24 State Budget also announced today include:
- $2.4 million to promote skilled migration to WA and visa advisory services;
- an expansion of the existing Group Training Organisation Wage Subsidy Program to include apprentices and trainees in the residential and commercial construction industry, opening the program up to assist more small to medium businesses;
- $26.9 million to increase the Base Employer Grant for all third and fourth-year apprentices by 20 per cent, from $10,000 to $12,000, to encourage local businesses to take on local workers;
- $4.6 million for a one-off $2,000 completion payment to encourage more apprentices to finish their training in the building industry and for school students to learn about the diverse career options in construction; and
- a $2.7 million boost in resources to expedite approvals of occupational licensing.
These latest measures build on an extensive range of initiatives previously rolled out to support a locally skilled WA workforce.
