Australia's construction industry isn't just building homes and infrastructure; it's building the nation itself, employing over 1.2 million Australians, paying wages well above average, and powering nearly a tenth of the economy, yet it stands at a critical crossroad between a historic housing boom and profound challenges like severe skills shortages, stubbornly low female participation, and rising costs that are squeezing profit margins to the bone.
Key Takeaways
- In June 2024, the Australian construction industry employed 1,189,300 people, marking a 2.1% increase from June 2023
- The building and construction sector accounted for 9.4% of total Australian employment in Q2 2024, with 1.2 million full-time equivalent workers
- Women represented only 13.2% of the construction workforce in Australia as of 2023, up from 11.8% in 2020, totaling 152,000 female workers
- The total value of construction work done in Australia reached $268.4 billion in 2023-24 financial year, up 8.2% from previous year
- Residential building contributed $143.7 billion to construction output in 2023-24, representing 53.6% of total
- Non-residential construction output was $98.2 billion in FY2024, driven by engineering works at 42%
- Number of new detached houses commenced 84,200 in 2023-24, down 3.5% YoY but value up due to costs
- Semi-detached and terrace houses commencements 21,500 in FY2024, up 8.2% from prior year
- Apartment and unit commencements totalled 24,100 in 2023-24, 14% decline due to high-rise slowdown
- Office building commencements valued $12.4 billion in FY2024, down 9% YoY
- Retail construction work $8.7 billion in 2023-24, focused on warehouse conversions
- Industrial building output $22.1 billion in FY2024, up 15% driven by logistics demand
- Construction fatalities 27 in 2023, rate 2.2 per 100,000 workers down 8% YoY
- Lost time injury frequency rate 1.8 per million hours in construction 2023
- 42% of construction firms adopted digital twins by 2024, improving project efficiency 15%
Australia's building industry thrives with record employment, high wages and strong growth despite a skilled worker shortage.
Commercial and Infrastructure
- Office building commencements valued $12.4 billion in FY2024, down 9% YoY
- Retail construction work $8.7 billion in 2023-24, focused on warehouse conversions
- Industrial building output $22.1 billion in FY2024, up 15% driven by logistics demand
- Road and bridge infrastructure spend $28.5 billion in 2023-24 federal budget allocation
- Rail construction value $18.9 billion in FY2024, including Inland Rail project at $14bn
- Port and airport infrastructure $9.2 billion commenced 2023-24
- Hospital building works $7.6 billion in 2023-24, part of health precinct developments
- Education facilities construction $5.4 billion FY2024, schools and unis expansion
- Renewable energy infrastructure (solar/wind substations) $12.8 billion in construction 2024
- Water and sewerage engineering $10.3 billion work done 2023-24
- Defence infrastructure projects valued $16.1 billion commenced FY2024
- Data centre construction pipeline $8.5 billion under construction 2024
- Hotel and accommodation builds $4.2 billion in 2023-24, tourism recovery
- Stadium and sports facilities $3.9 billion ongoing projects 2024 Olympics prep
- Mining infrastructure construction $25.7 billion FY2024, critical minerals focus
- Telecommunications towers and fibre $6.1 billion deployed 2023-24
- Urban renewal precincts commercial value $11.2 billion approvals 2024
- Total pipeline engineering projects $570 billion to 2034 per IA 2024 list
- Hazardous materials remediation sites 450 projects valued $2.8bn in 2023
- Green building certifications 1,250 commercial projects in 2024, 6-star NABERS avg
Commercial and Infrastructure Interpretation
While the traditional office tower may be having a quiet midlife crisis, the nation is otherwise furiously busy building the skeleton of its future—from the critical minerals in the ground and the data in the cloud to the renewable energy arteries, logistics veins, and hospital heartbeats required to sustain it.
Economic Value and Output
- The total value of construction work done in Australia reached $268.4 billion in 2023-24 financial year, up 8.2% from previous year
- Residential building contributed $143.7 billion to construction output in 2023-24, representing 53.6% of total
- Non-residential construction output was $98.2 billion in FY2024, driven by engineering works at 42%
- Construction industry's GDP contribution was 9.1% or $262 billion in 2023 calendar year
- Total capital expenditure on construction assets hit $115 billion in 2023-24, up 6.5%
- Engineering construction work done valued $112.4 billion in 2023-24, 41.9% of total construction
- Public sector construction spending $78.6 billion in FY2024, 29% of total output
- Private sector non-residential output $52.1 billion in 2023-24, up 4.8% YoY
- Construction import value reached $45.3 billion in 2023, mainly materials like steel and cement
- Industry export value for construction services $12.7 billion in FY2024, focused on mining projects
- Cost escalation in construction averaged 5.8% in 2023, totaling $15.6 billion extra spend
- Profit margins in construction firms averaged 3.2% in 2023, down from 4.1% in 2022 due to labour costs
- Total value of dwelling commencements $155.2 billion in 2023-24, record high
- Non-dwelling building approvals valued $28.4 billion in FY2024, up 12% YoY
- Infrastructure investment pipeline $120 billion over next decade announced in 2024 budget
- Construction sector multiplier effect contributed $1.45 to GDP per $1 spent in 2023
- Total wages and salaries in construction $120.5 billion in FY2023, 12% of national total
- Business insolvencies in construction 1,856 in 2023, highest of any sector at 28% of total
- Average project value for residential builds $450,000 in 2024, up 7% from 2023
- Construction lending approvals $85.6 billion in 2023-24, 92% for housing
- Supply chain costs added 15% to project budgets in 2023, equating to $40bn impact
- Carbon pricing impact on construction costs $2.1 billion annually projected for 2025
- Detached house construction value $92.4 billion in FY2024, 61% of residential total
- Total new dwelling approvals 169,800 in 2023-24, valued at $120.5 billion collectively
Economic Value and Output Interpretation
Australia’s construction industry is a $268 billion, caffeine-fueled juggernaut, heroically housing the nation while building its future, all while squeezing out a meager 3.2% profit and accounting for over a quarter of the country's business collapses.
Employment Statistics
- In June 2024, the Australian construction industry employed 1,189,300 people, marking a 2.1% increase from June 2023
- The building and construction sector accounted for 9.4% of total Australian employment in Q2 2024, with 1.2 million full-time equivalent workers
- Women represented only 13.2% of the construction workforce in Australia as of 2023, up from 11.8% in 2020, totaling 152,000 female workers
- Apprentices and trainees in construction numbered 137,200 in 2023, comprising 11.5% of the total workforce, with a completion rate of 68.4%
- Average weekly earnings in construction reached $2,350 in May 2024, 28% higher than the all-industries average of $1,888
- Construction unemployment rate stood at 3.8% in July 2024, below the national average of 4.2%, with 45,000 unemployed workers
- Over 250,000 construction workers were aged 45+ in 2023, representing 21% of the workforce and highlighting skills shortage risks
- Indigenous employment in construction was 3.1% of the workforce in 2023, or 37,000 workers, with participation rates improving by 15% since 2016
- Job vacancies in construction hit 45,600 in May 2024, up 12% from 2023, driven by residential building demand
- Labour productivity in construction grew by 1.2% in 2023, lagging behind the economy-wide 1.8% due to supply chain issues
- Migrant workers comprised 28% of construction employment in 2023, with 334,000 from non-English speaking backgrounds
- Underemployment in construction was 7.5% in Q1 2024, affecting 89,000 workers seeking more hours
- Construction managers numbered 85,400 in 2023, with a 4.5% employment growth over five years
- Site supervisors and foremen totaled 62,000 in 2024, facing a shortage of 15,000 positions nationally
- Bricklayers employment was 45,200 in 2023, with 8,200 vacancies reported due to housing boom
- Carpenters and joiners employed 92,100 in 2023, representing the largest trade occupation at 7.7% of workforce
- Electricians in construction numbered 78,500 in 2024, with apprenticeship commencements up 10% YoY
- Plumbers totalled 54,300 in building sector 2023, with licensing requirements met by 92% of workforce
- Painters and decorators employed 48,000 in 2023, with 65% self-employed contractors
- Construction labourers numbered 145,000 in 2024, with high turnover rate of 22% annually
- Engineers in construction totalled 112,000 in 2023, 15% growth since 2018 driven by infrastructure projects
- Architects and landscape architects numbered 38,200 in building design 2023, facing 5,200 vacancy shortfall
- Surveyors in construction employed 12,500 in 2024, with digital skills gap affecting 40% of roles
- Heavy machinery operators totalled 67,400 in construction 2023, up 18% from 2019
- Building inspectors numbered 8,900 in 2023, with compliance rates at 94% for new dwellings
- Quantity surveyors employed 14,200 in 2024, critical for cost management in $200bn industry
- Total construction training hours delivered 12.5 million in 2023 via TAFE and RTOs
- Youth employment (15-24) in construction was 8.2% of workforce, or 97,000 in 2023
- Regional construction employment 620,000 in 2024, 52% of national total
Employment Statistics Interpretation
The Australian construction industry is a powerhouse of high-paying jobs and persistent growth, yet it’s simultaneously a leaky bucket struggling with skilled labour shortages, an aging workforce, and stubbornly low female participation, all while trying to build its way through a historic housing boom.
Industry Trends and Safety
- Construction fatalities 27 in 2023, rate 2.2 per 100,000 workers down 8% YoY
- Lost time injury frequency rate 1.8 per million hours in construction 2023
- 42% of construction firms adopted digital twins by 2024, improving project efficiency 15%
- Modular construction adoption 18% of projects in 2024, reducing timelines by 20-30%
- Net zero commitments by major builders 65% in 2024, targeting 2030 compliance
- BIM usage in large projects 78% in 2023, mandatory in VIC/NSW tenders
- Mental health programs implemented in 52% of sites 2024, reducing absenteeism 12%
- AI predictive maintenance used in 35% of heavy equipment fleets 2024, cutting downtime 22%
- Safety incidents fell 14% in 2023 after WHS harmonization updates
- Drone usage for site inspections 62% of firms 2024, improving safety compliance 25%
- ESG reporting mandatory for ASX200 builders from 2024, 92% compliance rate
- Heat stress incidents 1,250 reported in summer 2023-24, new guidelines issued
- Prefab offsite manufacturing 25% of components in 2024 projects, waste reduction 40%
- Cyber security breaches in construction supply chains 180 incidents 2023, up 30%
- Diversity training completion 88% workforce 2024, female retention up 18%
- Electrification of sites 47% using EV machinery by 2024, emissions down 35%
- Regulatory compliance audits passed 91% of 12,500 sites in 2023
- 5G enabled smart sites in 320 major projects 2024, productivity +12%
- Waste diversion from landfill 72% in metro builds 2023, national target 80% by 2025
- Robotics in bricklaying trialled on 45 sites 2024, labour savings 25%
Industry Trends and Safety Interpretation
While celebrating safer, smarter, and greener progress with falling fatalities and rising tech adoption, the industry is still quite literally building its future, brick by automated brick, while sweating through heat stress, cyber threats, and the hard graft of cultural change.
Residential Construction
- Number of new detached houses commenced 84,200 in 2023-24, down 3.5% YoY but value up due to costs
- Semi-detached and terrace houses commencements 21,500 in FY2024, up 8.2% from prior year
- Apartment and unit commencements totalled 24,100 in 2023-24, 14% decline due to high-rise slowdown
- Average floor area of new detached houses 230 sqm in 2023, down 2% from 2022 peak
- Residential construction costs index rose 6.8% YoY to June 2024, highest in NSW at 7.2%
- Housing completions reached 170,500 dwellings in 2023 calendar year, supply shortfall of 50,000
- New home builds financed by owner-occupiers 82% of total residential lending in 2024
- Prefabricated housing market share 12% of new builds in 2023, up from 8% in 2020
- Energy-efficient homes (7-star rating) comprised 45% of new approvals in 2024, mandated nationally
- Renovations and alterations value $28.6 billion in FY2024, 20% of residential output
- Median time to build new house 8.5 months in 2023, delayed by 1.2 months avg due to labour shortages
- Bushfire-resistant building approvals 15,200 in high-risk areas 2023-24, up 22%
- Flood-resilient designs in 12,500 new homes in QLD/NSW 2024, post-2022 floods
- Tiny homes (under 60sqm) approvals 4,200 in 2023, 2.5% of total dwellings
- Multi-unit residential vacancy rates 1.8% nationally in 2024, pressuring new supply
- Average cost to build detached house $3,200/sqm in Q2 2024, up 5.5% YoY
- Social housing construction 18,500 units commenced in 2023-24 under NHF
- First home buyer grants supported 35,000 residential builds valued $16bn in FY2024
- Sustainable materials used in 62% of new homes 2023, recycled content avg 15%
- New residential addresses approved 223,500 in 2023-24, record high but commencements lag
Residential Construction Interpretation
While fewer Australians are building traditional detached houses, preferring instead more efficient and resilient homes as costs soar, the nation's construction industry is scrambling to adapt with smaller, smarter, and prefabricated dwellings to close a stubborn supply gap.
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