A new $5 million electrotechnology facility at TAFE Queensland Alexandra Hills is built around the capstone test. That is the last gate in an electrical apprenticeship, and the queue in front of it is a workforce problem almost nobody has been counting. Almost every...
New NCVER figures show trade commencements are still rising, but the rate of growth has fallen from almost 18 per cent to 2 per cent across three quarters, and the number of construction trades apprentices in training dropped again. The number of people starting a...
The Bill cleared both Houses without amendment. The licence, the offence and the penalties are now fixed in statute. What employers will actually be measured against sits in regulations that have not been drafted. Victoria has passed a law that will require an...
The Key Apprenticeship Program employer incentive drops from $5,000 to $4,000 on 1 January 2027. What decides which rate applies is the commencement date registered on the Training Contract, and the current grant guidelines close at the end of December. The employer...
Employers who want to take on an apprentice in Victoria would need a licence to do it. The Bill that sets that up is not a discussion paper. It is already in the Legislative Assembly. The Education and Training Reform Amendment (Apprenticeships, Traineeships, Schools...
A national study of 12,376 apprentices and trainees says the pay packet is not the main reason people walk. The supervisor is. Small businesses are giving apprentices the best training and the closest supervision in the country. They are also the ones most likely to...
A rugby league challenge, a Western Sydney school tour, funded white cards and a research paper with real numbers in it. There is more here than the average awareness campaign, and some of it lands directly on site. Most workforce campaigns arrive as a media release...
The response was nine times the target. Converting it into qualified construction trade teachers is the harder half of the job. Queensland's campaign to recruit a new generation of TAFE teachers has drawn more than 3,600 expressions of interest against an original...
The Queensland Government has opened a new funding stream aimed at getting more apprentices onto the tools, with payments of up to $16,000 available to businesses that take one on. The program, called TradieStart, was announced by the Crisafulli Government alongside...
In 2025, more construction apprentices left their training without a qualification than finished it. At the same moment, government support was cut. The data points at a fix that is not in Canberra. Here is a number that should stop any builder short. In 2025, more...
Most people would have kept the prizes. The gesture is generous. The reason it lands so hard says something bigger about the cost of starting out in a trade right now. Oscar Cherry had every reason to keep the prizes. The 19 year old apprentice carpenter from...
Western Australia’s Construction Training Fund has opened applications for a $10 million capital grant round aimed at private training providers. The pool has nearly doubled in two years, and the priorities tell you where the state thinks the workforce gap is. Western...
New NCVER data points to a turning quarter for the trades, but the annual trend is more mixed than the headline suggests. Trade apprenticeship commencements rose 12.5 per cent in the December 2025 quarter compared with the same quarter a year earlier, according to new...
A proposed change to federal TAFE funding arrangements could leave Queensland builders and trades short of the next generation of workers, just as the state's apprenticeship numbers were heading in the right direction. Australia is trying to build more homes. Everyone...
Darcy Fletcher took a path most teenagers never hear about. His story makes the case that the trades pipeline needs to start earlier. Darcy Fletcher was 16 years old, sitting in a classroom in Ryde, counting down the days until he could leave. School was not working...
The Crisafulli Government has launched a $2 million drive to get experienced tradies, veterans and career changers into TAFE teaching. It is a sound idea. Whether it addresses the scale of the problem is a different question. There is something quietly significant...
The federal and NSW governments have jointly committed $11 million to upgrade a TAFE facility at Kingswood into a dedicated Construction Centre of Excellence. For builders facing a workforce gap that isn’t going away, this is worth paying attention to. Australia...
Hannah Dillimore didn't take the conventional path into the trades. She saw an ad for welders in Antarctica and thought, that's interesting. She wasn't ready for the South Pole, but the spark was lit. The 27-year-old from Melbourne's South East is now Victoria's 2026...
A young WA carpenter who has competed on the world stage and addressed Parliament is doing more for apprentice recruitment than most industry campaigns. He just does not see it that way. Lewis Italiano had never been on a plane before WorldSkills. That changed when...
The announcements keep coming. Across the country, federal and state governments are committing serious money to train the next generation of construction workers. Queensland has just locked in $73.8 million for a new Construction Tech TAFE Centre of Excellence....
The government is expected to confirm a new Housing Construction Apprenticeship stream in next week's budget, offering eligible apprentices in construction trades up to $10,000 in financial support. It is a reasonable policy. Getting more people into construction...
The trades skills shortage is real. But for a growing number of young Australians, it is less a crisis to weather and more a gap worth stepping into. Anthony Phonlamuang left high school without an ATAR. No score. No clear plan. No obvious next step. What he had was a...
Building Commission NSW visited high schools and TAFE campuses during its Hunter Region operation. It was a small part of a bigger blitz. But it might be the most important part. What Most People Missed in the Hunter Blitz When Building Commission NSW and SafeWork NSW...
The industry needs more people entering construction. Understanding what younger tradespeople are actually looking for is the first step to becoming a business they want to join. The conversation about workforce shortages in Australian construction is well...
A chance conversation, a late-night job, and the pull of family time have reshaped the career of 35-year-old Sefita Teuhema, who is now training as an apprentice plumber after nearly two decades in food manufacturing. Mr Teuhema spent years working night shift at a...
A major new training investment at TAFE Queensland’s Toowoomba campus is set to strengthen the region’s plumbing and gas fitting workforce, addressing long-standing skills shortages across residential, commercial and infrastructure projects in the Darling Downs. The...
Western Australia’s construction and trade sectors are facing a familiar challenge: strong demand for skilled workers alongside persistent workforce shortages. While governments and industry bodies continue to focus on productivity, skills pipelines and training...
Australia’s construction industry has long talked about the need to widen its talent pipeline. Now, a new program launching in South East Queensland is turning that conversation into action. The Securing Futures – School to Work Transitions Program has been launched...
At first glance, early childhood education and construction waterproofing sit worlds apart. One focuses on caring for young children. The other protects buildings from moisture, mould and long-term structural damage. But for 26-year-old Scheriya Cuello, the move from...
How hands-on learning at Kurri Kurri TAFE is shaping better landscape outcomes At a time when the construction industry is grappling with skills shortages and an ageing workforce, one thing remains clear: the future of the trades depends on how well today’s students...
More than 10,000 Victorian apprentices completed their training in 2025 and are now fully qualified, entering the workforce with recognised trade papers across a wide range of industries. Construction-related trades accounted for a significant share of those...
The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to training the Northern Territory’s next generation of builders, with Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Andrew Giles visiting the HIA NT Skills Centre in Darwin to announce continued funding for key...
South Australia is stepping up its investment in skills to meet the growing demand for workers across the construction industry, with vocational education and training (VET) funding rising nearly 10 per cent in 2024, the largest allocation since records began....
A New Front in the Apprenticeship Pay Debate Australia’s apprenticeship system is facing a major test as group training organisations (GTOs) push back against a union-led bid that could overhaul how apprentices are paid and employed nationwide. The Communications,...
Fee-Free Training Lays Foundations for WA’s Housing Future Western Australia’s housing workforce is set to receive a major boost, with the WA Government announcing a $21.9 million investment to add seven new building and construction qualifications to TAFE’s fee-free...
The ACT Government is stepping up efforts to open the construction industry to a new generation of young women, with the 2025-26 Budget committing $1.4 million over four years to expand the Women in Construction – Try-a-Trade program across Canberra’s public schools....
Queensland’s small and family-owned builders are set to benefit from a major workforce investment, with the Crisafulli Government launching a $19 million pilot program aimed at helping businesses train and retain apprentices. The Small Business Apprenticeship Pilot...
Rebuilding Queensland’s Skills Backbone The QLD Government has officially secured the site for the $60 million Moreton Bay TAFE Centre of Excellence, marking a major milestone in Queensland’s plan to rebuild its training infrastructure and support the next generation...
Australia’s construction sector has taken a major step toward modernisation with the launch of Melbourne Polytechnic’s Future of Housing Construction Centre of Excellence (FHC CoE), a $50 million national hub dedicated to advancing modern methods of construction (MMC)...
The Northern Territory is testing a new model to address its chronic skills shortage, with Yuronga State High School partnering directly with major construction firms including Hutchinson Builders to embed trade training into the classroom. Building Skills Where...
Australia’s construction workforce received a welcome boost this year, with trade apprenticeship completions reaching their highest level in a decade. But beneath the headline figure lies a more complex story of falling commencements, declining overall completions,...
A boost for builders and apprentices on the NSW North Coast The future of the construction workforce on the NSW North Coast just received a major upgrade. TAFE NSW Kingscliff has officially opened two brand-new, purpose-built training facilities designed to replicate...
South Australia has emerged as the national frontrunner in apprenticeships and traineeships, with fresh data revealing the state is bucking national trends by attracting and retaining record numbers of new workers across priority industries, particularly the trades....
The ACT Government has again rolled out its cost-of-living payment for apprentices and trainees, pledging $1.8 million to help young Canberrans cover the rising cost of tools and equipment. Eligible apprentices will receive $250, with first-years scoring an extra $250...
Australia’s construction sector has long relied on the next generation of skilled tradespeople to drive standards higher and keep the industry resilient. This week, that next generation stepped firmly into the spotlight. WorldSkills Australia has announced its...
The Sunshine Coast is set to gain a world-class skills hub, with the Crisafulli Government confirming land has been secured for a $78 million TAFE Centre of Excellence in Caloundra. The facility, focused on construction and allied trades, promises to boost the...
South Australians have saved more than $50 million in course fees since the introduction of the Fee-Free TAFE initiative, with thousands of students gaining qualifications that may have otherwise been out of reach. Now, a further 1,600 places in construction training...
Australia’s chronic shortage of skilled tradies has pushed the federal government to roll out a new plan: milestone cash payments to apprentices. The initiative is designed to keep young workers on track to completing their qualifications, rather than being lured away...
The Victorian Government’s decision to expand Free TAFE into plumbing short courses is reshaping the way the state trains and licenses its next generation of tradespeople. By cutting down the time and cost it takes to up-skill, the initiative is giving aspiring and...
The Allan Labor Government has announced a new push to strengthen Victoria’s construction workforce, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Master Builders Victoria (MBV) and the Victorian TAFE Network. The aim is simple but urgent, more skilled people to...
Matt Sim still remembers his first real building job: digging footings with a shovel, boxing up slabs, and climbing on roofs before he’d even turned 18. “We did the lot,” he says. “Digging, framing, plastering, even the tiling. Back then, you didn’t just learn...
Summary: From today, apprentices working in construction trades can access $10,000 in government incentives, part of the Albanese Government’s plan to ease cost-of-living pressures, strengthen the workforce, and help deliver 1.2 million new homes over five years. New...
Summary: WA is investing $100 million in vocational training, freezing TAFE fees and expanding fee-free construction courses. For builders and business owners, this means more young people on pathways into construction, and a stronger pipeline of future trades. Here’s...
As the building industry continues to grapple with labour shortages, mental health pressures, and the need for greater inclusivity, Carpentry Australia is stepping up with a series of free events across New South Wales designed to deliver real impact. Backed by the...
Carpentry Australia offers free NSW events aimed at tackling tradie shortages, well-being and inclusion across the trade.Supported by Carpentry Australia & the Women in Construction program from NSW Government Carpentry Australia is rolling out a series of free...
When most people think of carpentry, they picture the tools—the hammer, the nails, the timber. But at Carpentry Australia, the mission goes far beyond the tools. It’s about the people holding them. Speaking on The Good Builder Podcast, Nathan Quinn, one of the voices...
Any thoughts on how we fix Australia’s housing crisis and the tradie shortage? We've talked about a few things here on The Good Builder, but it turns out the answer might fit inside a small bus. Last Friday, 13 young apprentices, all part of a training partnership...
If you're not talking about the growing trades shortages and the urgent need for more young apprentices, you're probably living under a rock. It's one of many ongoing headaches for those in the construction industry, and with infrastructure demands soaring, finding...
Last week we brought you the story of the Prime Minister’s commitment to give construction apprentices $10,000 to solve the capacity crisis. On the whole, the $626.9 million announcement was greeted favourably by the major...
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made an election year move to support apprentices working in residential construction by offering a $10,000 cash bonus for apprentices. With the industry struggling with serious workforce shortages this policy aims to build the...
LATEST NEWS
A new $5 million electrotechnology facility at TAFE Queensland Alexandra Hills is built around the capstone test. That is the last gate in an electrical apprenticeship, and the queue in front of it is a workforce problem almost nobody has been counting. Almost every...
Victoria released its data centre rulebook on 22 September. Read alongside the NSW guidelines and the National Cabinet agreement, it settles who pays for the power and water infrastructure that large new loads need. Housing has no equivalent rule. For years, when the...
Three projects just got a Prescribed Project declaration. It is a coordination tool with a two year clock on it, not an approval, and it does not put a single tonne of reinforcing bar on a Queensland site any sooner than 2028. Queensland has just declared three steel...
The 2026 Australian Worker Exposure Survey puts construction at the top of the national table for cumulative exposure, for silica and for lead. It also shows the industry running the country’s highest rate of high level exposure to three agents that rarely make the...