The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has welcomed the coalition’s budget reply proposal to provide $12,000 in financial support for small businesses and tradies taking on apprentices, stating it a “vital measure” to address Australia’s critical skills shortage.

“Without an employer, there is no apprentice and financial support for employers,” HIA managing director Jocelyn Martin says.

“This is critical to addressing our nation’s chronic skills shortages.”

The HIA emphasises the urgent need for more tradespeople, stating that the country is facing an “unprecedented level of skills shortage,” with over 83,000 tradies required to meet housing demands.

“We can’t just keep on with current policies and hope that it will solve itself, we need a circuit breaker to address what the long-term structural issues in our skill shortages are,” Jocelyn says.

Jocelyn states that although financial incentives are essential, apprentices also need mentorship and guidance otherwise dropout rates will continue. She is pleased by the backing from the coalition, although is cautious as previous initiatives have been “short-lived”.

“HIA welcomes the coalition’s commitment for small businesses and calls on all parties to match this,” she concludes.

“Too often in the past, we have seen apprentice and employer incentives come and go where this no certainty that businesses can’t plan or commit with a level of confidence. Small businesses thrive on certainty and consistency, and what we want to see is this type of support for apprentices and employers locked in as permanent fixture.”