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.
The State Government is also establishing a Skilled Worker Attraction Government Steering Committee — to be chaired by Deputy Premier Roger Cook and Training Minister Simone McGurk — that will consult with industry and other key government stakeholders on matters relating to skilled worker attraction and addressing high-priority needs of the WA labour market, including the construction industry. This committee will also provide oversight of implementation of the Government’s visa support programs.
These initiatives complement the Government’s $195 million Reconnect WA program — which includes initiatives to attract overseas skilled workers, backpackers and international students to the State and several international advertising campaigns running to attract workers in key industries including building and construction.
Announcing these new initiatives today, Training Minister Simone McGurk said ““The new migration initiatives funded in our 2023—24 budget will ensure WA remains the state of choice for skilled migrants, helping employers fill vacant jobs in the building and construction sector. But we are not losing sight of the importance of training local workers — the expansion of the Group Training Organisation Wage Subsidy Program to the residential construction sector will help to attract more construction apprentices and trainees to this in-demand industry. As a Government we’re doing everything we can to not only encourage more workers to get into training, but to ensure that they finish their training — and take up rewarding positions in building and construction and other in-demand industries.”
