Up to 935,600 tradies short by 2035: what Australia's building gap means for UK tradespeople

News · 2026-09-10 · 4 min read

Three tradespeople in hard hats and high-visibility vests inspect timber framing at a sunlit Australian building site.

Plenty of UK electricians, chippies and plumbers have wondered at some point whether their trade would go further in Australia. A new industry report gives a clear sense of the scale of demand there. Without major changes, Australia's shortfall of construction workers and tradies could climb to around 935,600 by 2035. Even if every reform the report recommends goes ahead, the country would still be more than 84,000 workers short.

That is not a one-off rush. It points to steady demand for qualified trades for years to come.

Why Australia keeps running short

The problem is structural. The building industry's peak body says Australia is simply not training enough new tradespeople to match the work coming down the line. Around $242 billion of infrastructure spending is planned over the next five years, and on top of that sits the long shift towards net-zero energy. Homes, railways, roads and renewable energy projects are all competing for the same limited pool of skilled workers.

Separate modelling by Infrastructure Australia has already pointed to a gap of 300,000 workers around 2027, just as the national infrastructure pipeline reaches its peak. Demand is heading up while the supply of local workers is not, and migration is one of the few ways to respond quickly.

The figures on skilled visas for trades

Migration is already doing more of the heavy lifting:

skilled visas granted to construction workers have tripled since 2019
15,524 skilled construction visas were issued in the 2024–25 financial year, the most in any year for a decade
the federal government has set aside $85 million this budget to speed up skills recognition for migrants already in Australia
new apprentices in housing construction can receive a $10,000 incentive, alongside wider access to Free TAFE

The government has said openly that more skilled migration sits alongside local training as a central part of its plan, not as a back-up.

Which trades are in the frame

Because the gap is expected to run through to 2035, the demand is broad: carpentry, electrical, plumbing, civil construction and related trades all feature. If you hold one of these trades in the UK, the shortage is not tied to a single project that will finish next year.

Getting your UK qualification recognised

The report highlights recognition of existing skills as a growing priority. It says that making recognition simpler for qualified workers already in Australia could free up more than 18,000 workers almost straight away. That tells you the system is trying to close the gap between being qualified overseas and being cleared to work on an Australian site.

For UK tradespeople, a few practical points are worth knowing early:

An NVQ or SVQ, City & Guilds certificates or a completed apprenticeship are your starting point, but trades are usually assessed again for Australian visas, for example through Trades Recognition Australia or VETASSESS.
Some trades, such as electrical and plumbing work, also need a state licence on top of the assessment.
Keep certified copies of your certificates, apprenticeship records and references from employers, as these are what an assessment usually relies on.
For many Australian work visas a current UK passport counts as meeting the English language requirement, though you should confirm this on the visa's own page.

You can check visa options on the Department of Home Affairs visa listing.

The view from the UK

Australia's building plans are running well ahead of the workforce it has, and even the most hopeful reforms will not close the gap on their own. That is why skilled migration for tradies is treated as essential there. If you are a qualified tradesperson in the UK, sustained demand, record visa numbers and new funding for skills recognition make this a sensible time to look into the move properly. Browse current trade roles on our jobs page to see what employers are asking for.

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