Flood-hit states take action to ease tradie shortages

Queensland is offering financial incentives to encourage tradies to travel to the state to carry out flood rebuilding work, while NSW is cutting licensing red tape to facilitate cross-border movement of skilled labour.

The Queensland government will provide a $1500 relocation payment and up to $250 for travel costs to the first 1000 tradespeople who move to the state and work for eight weeks’ rebuilding communities.

Tradespeople from NSW are not eligible to apply for the program, called the Tradies in Paradise Incentive Scheme, given the reconstruction also required in that state, while it’s also only open to tradespeople or building industry professionals with Queensland accreditation to perform the work.

NSW on Friday said that from July 1 it will recognise a range of interstate building and construction qualifications and registrations, with certain tradespeople no longer needing to apply for a state licence, or pay additional registration or renewal fees.

The changes are part of a national move to make it easier for tradespeople to work across borders under the Automatic Mutual Recognition (AMR) scheme.

“We’re cutting red tape to ensure that if you are an eligible qualified and registered tradie from any participating state, you can work in NSW,” Treasurer Matt Kean said. “This means interstate tradies can now come and work in the Northern Rivers regions to help through the recovery phase.”

NSW, Victoria, SA, Tasmania, the NT, and the ACT are participating in the Automatic Mutual Recognition Scheme. WA will also join on July 1.

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has said that the availability and cost of construction labour and materials are among challenges as the industry looks to repair homes and business in regions impacted by the floods.

“Since late last year, the ICA has been working with state and territory government and building industry associations to increase the availability of trades required to repair and rebuild properties following natural disasters and investigate the feasibility of bringing in qualified trades from overseas,” CEO Andrew Hall said.