The State Government is taking significant steps to strengthen Western Australia's in-demand construction sector by hosting an event that connects construction businesses with skilled migrants, to get more boots on the ground in this priority workforce.
Training and Workforce Development Minister Simone McGurk recently attended Construction Employment Connect 2024 at North Metropolitan TAFE's East Perth campus.
An initiative of WA's Construction Migration Office, this event facilitates face-to-face connections between construction industry employers and qualified skilled migrants. These migrants have completed a pre-event migrant job-readiness workshop and are eager to fill job vacancies in the sector.
Through the State Government's 'Lower fees, local skills' initiative, training costs in key sectors like building and construction have been significantly reduced, by up to 72 per cent. Selected courses have been made fee free in partnership with the Commonwealth Government.
Since January 2023, the State Government has been offering refugees and asylum seekers from Ukraine and Afghanistan access to subsidised training.
This initiative will continue to support attracting overseas skilled workers to WA to support industry, the economy, and temporary visa holders upskilling while their applications are being processed, creating a pipeline of skilled workers.
Additionally, the State Government successfully secured 10,000 skilled migrant places from the Commonwealth Government for the 2024-25 period. Skilling Western Australians remains the State's priority, but sectors like building and construction still require more workers to meet demand.
To help employers, the State Government's Construction Visa Subsidy Program (CVSP) offers up to $10,000 in support to offset the cost of employing a skilled migrant. This includes migration agent fees, visa application costs and relocation expenses.
To date, building and construction employers have received over $6 million in funding to sponsor skilled migrants, with 487 of the more than 1,220 skilled migrants supported through the program having arrived in WA and commenced work with their employer.
The CVSP is complemented by the Construction Migration Office to serve as a central point of contact for employers and skilled migrants. Employers can also benefit from the free Skilled Migrant Employment Register, which automatically matches job vacancies with verified skilled migrants.
For more information on migration initiatives, visit https://migration.wa.gov.au/
Training and Workforce Development Minister Simone McGurk said, “We know Western Australia needs more skilled workers to build houses and meet the growing demand from a range of industries - particularly in building and construction."
“Our priority will always be training local workers, and that is why we have introduced a range of initiatives including incentives for employers to take on apprentices, apprentice wage subsidies, financial incentives for apprentices to complete their training, and fee-free and low-fee training."
“Skilled migration is an important tool to fill positions that can’t be filled locally. That’s why our Government fought for and secured 10,000 skilled migration places across a range of priority industries, to help us fill the many positions that can’t be filled locally."
“The Construction Employment Connect 2024 event aims to address high demand for skills in the construction sector by providing a platform for construction companies to meet and recruit skilled migrants who can fill job vacancies."
“Our efforts to build a pipeline of skilled workers ready to take up job opportunities in areas of high workforce demand will further support Western Australia’s economic development.”
