Building the Future Construction Workforce

This Fellowship report examines how vocational education and workforce systems internationally are responding to the clean economy and digital transformation pressures reshaping construction. Drawing on visits to the UAE, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, England and Scotland, the report finds that Australia's challenges, such as skills shortages, slow qualification reform, fragmented industry structure and housing pressure, are shared widely, but other countries are further ahead in practical responses. It argues construction should be understood as multiple distinct labour markets rather than one workforce, that the existing workforce is the primary vehicle for transition, and that VET should be reframed as applied tertiary education rather than a lesser alternative to university. The report closes with recommendations for government, industry/unions and VET institutions, organised around a coordinated national clean-and-digital construction skills framework.