A Queensland construction company has warned that Australia’s migration system is too slow and complex to meet the construction industry’s urgent need for skilled tradespeople, threatening progress on critical housing and infrastructure projects.
Jake Green, General Manager at Queensland-based building company Maaken, said the business has spent months trying to secure experienced carpenters and builders from overseas to support its expanding workload across Southeast Queensland.
Despite working through reputable migration lawyers and labour-hire partners, Green said the process under the federal government’s new Skills in Demand framework remains mired in bureaucracy.
“We are not trying to bypass Australian workers; we are trying to grow industry capacity by combining small, highly skilled overseas crews with local labour and apprentices,” Green said.
He explained that even though these roles are officially listed as priority shortage occupations, the hurdles before an application can even be lodged are significant.
“These trades are already recognised shortage occupations, yet the pre-lodgement requirements alone include detailed role definitions, market-salary evidence, labour market testing, extensive documentation and skills assessments,” said Green.
“That is all before the sponsorship, nomination and visa stages even begin.”
Construction Skills Queensland data forecasts an average shortfall of about 18,200 construction workers per year across the state over the next eight years, underscoring how serious the workforce gap has become.
Green said this reality clashes with government rhetoric about the need to boost housing supply and workforce capacity.
“We hear daily that Queensland needs more homes and more skilled workers, but the current system slows down the very workers who can help solve the problem.”
When Maaken’s overseas tradespeople eventually arrived, he said the difference was immediate and measurable.
“They brought strong formal training, technical skill, and experience on comparable systems, which meant install times improved straight away and the quality and consistency of work was very high,” said Green.
“Productivity per person was markedly higher, and it helped us keep difficult façade and firewall packages on track.”
According to Green, the foreign workers also adapted easily to local construction teams and were keen to take on demanding roles.
“It is clear that overseas trades are an important part of closing the skills gap, but the policy settings and processing times need to reflect the urgency we are seeing on the ground,” said Green.
“Without that, Queensland’s housing and infrastructure delivery will continue to fall behind.”
Industry analysts have echoed these concerns, noting that delays in visa processing and layered regulatory requirements are causing major project slowdowns at a time when Australia faces a record housing shortfall.
For builders like Maaken, the stakes are high.
With housing demand continuing to outstrip supply across the state, faster access to skilled migrants could be a crucial part of keeping construction schedules on track and ensuring Queensland’s building pipeline doesn’t stall under the pressure.
