State Budget 2025: 23,000 free construction apprenticeships to boost home building sector

A record $3.4bn package will be unveiled in Tuesday’s State Budget to fast-track more tradies in a bid to tackle the state’s critical housing shortage.

• Mookhey: ‘No cash splashes’

Thousands of free construction training places will be offered by the Minns government as part of a record $3.4bn package to fast-track more tradies in a bid to tackle the critical housing shortage.

As the largest single investment in the sector in more than a decade, the funding will pay for an extra 23,000 apprenticeships in a move the government hopes will be “a game-changer”.

To be unveiled in Tuesday’s Budget, the TAFE and skills funding will also include $2.8bn to overhaul outdated campuses and modernise facilities, increase permanent staff, and support “strategic relocations” of campuses.

Declaring housing a key theme of his Budget, Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said the package was designed to boost the number of tradies on job sites in the short-term while ensuring a pipeline of skilled workers in the future.

“This budget brings together housing and skills to meet the state’s future needs,” he said.

Beth Langford, 21, is a carpentry apprentice at TAFE Meadowbank and loves her work. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

“You can’t build homes without workers, and this budget delivers both. It ensures our investment in housing is backed by an investment in people.

“It’s a targeted investment that delivers immediate benefits while building long-term capacity in the NSW workforce.”

The package will include $40.2m for 23,000 additional fee-free construction apprenticeships.

There will also be a $13.8m “construction workforce package” that will target people already in the workforce, support career-changers and skilled migrants, and engage young people considering careers in the building trades.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey will unveil a a record $3.4bn TAFE and skills package in Tuesday’s Budget. Picture: NewsWire/Nikki Short

It will include at least $7m for 800 existing workers and skilled migrants to gain formal trade qualifications through tailored assessment, training and trade testing.

As well, $4.8m will be allocated to support 4000 existing workers to upskill or transition into trades.

There will also be $2m to fund school careers fairs, industry school partnerships and try-a-trade opportunities for up to 3000 school students to pursue a career in the construction workforce through programs such as Tiny Homes and Girls Can Too.

To make TAFE more attractive to students, the government is also committing $2.8bn to upgrade the often outdated TAFE campuses across the state, including updating learning and teaching spaces and investing in digital equipment.

Almost $80m will also go to converting casual teachers into permanent staff, while $100m will pay for the relocation of teaching operations from TAFE NSW Bankstown to Western Sydney University Tower and TAFE NSW Padstow, due to the building of the new Bankstown Hospital.

The government has been under increasing pressure to increase TAFE funding, especially with a shortage of tradies to meet the demand in the housing sector.

It will argue its package reverses “years of underfunding” by the former Coalition government.

Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education Minister Steve Whan said it was “landmark investment”.

“Whether you’re already working in construction, new to the industry, or just starting out at school, the construction workforce package will open new pathways for thousands of people across the state,” he said.

CAREER MOVE IS WORTH A CRACK

Third year carpentry apprentice Beth Langford, 21, said the move to fund thousands of free courses wOULD “definitely get more people into trades”.

Ms Langford, who is also in her second year at TAFE Meadowbank, said the training wOULD funnel young workers into the housing industry.

“That’s purely why I chose this (TAFE) course as well, because I didn’t have to pay for it. It was just something that I could give a crack and I wasn’t given the burden of a HECS debt,” Ms Langford said.

“I really want to get into building more houses and I’m definitely very interested in (meeting) the supply and demand of new houses that are needed, because Sydney is very expensive at the moment and finding a place here is really hard.

“The cost of living is absolutely horrendous, so being able to help create housing opportunities is something I’d really like.”

Ms Langford hoped the subsidised courses would also encourage other women to try out the trades, having worked with only one other woman since she joined the industry.

“I want women to push to get into the trades because I really want to work with them … if someone’s interested I think they should give it a crack, because there’s a lot of support,” she said.

“I actually really enjoy TAFE … I like the idea that I’m not stuck in a classroom all week, it’s just one day for me, and then being able to apply all the knowledge that I’ve learned at TAFE into my everyday work is something that I really like.”

Originally published as State Budget 2025: 23,000 free construction apprenticeships to boost home building sector