{"id":532784,"date":"2026-01-21T18:51:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T18:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/532784\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T18:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T18:51:17","slug":"queensland-government-to-change-construction-industry-after-inquiry-finds-productivity-declining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/532784\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland government to change construction industry after inquiry finds productivity declining"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Queensland government has agreed to make sweeping changes across the construction industry, as an inquiry finds the sector is increasingly unable to meet demand.<\/p>\n

Productivity commission report finds drop in productivity could have cost Queensland new homes<\/a><\/p>\n

An interim report by Queensland’s productivity commission estimates productivity in the construction industry has fallen by about 9 per cent since 2018.<\/p>\n

A final report from the state’s productivity commission, released on Wednesday, found productivity in the industry had fallen by 9 per cent since 2018, which could have cost the state\u00a0almost 80,000 additional homes.<\/p>\n

Labour productivity in the sector, which employs 10 per cent of the state’s workforce, is estimated to have grown only 5 per cent in 30 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a comparison, over the same period, the commission said productivity in the market economy had grown 65 per cent.<\/p>\n

All of that means government housing targets are now increasingly looking “difficult” to meet, it found.<\/p>\n

\"Construction<\/p>\n

The productivity commission found the construction industry was struggling to meet growing demand. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)<\/p>\n

‘An industry reset’<\/p>\n

Already, the government has agreed or signalled in-principle agreement to 51 of the 64 recommendations made by the commission, which called for an “industry reset”.<\/p>\n

Eight have been noted and five will not be progressed, with Treasurer David Janetzki saying “already duplicative processes” were underway.<\/p>\n

Those recommendations included permanently abolishing Best Practice Industry Conditions (BPIC). That occurred at the start of this year when new procurement guidelines came into effect.<\/p>\n

\"Photos<\/p>\n

BPIC was paused in 2024, in a move that angered unions. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)<\/p>\n

BPIC were initially paused in November 2024, with the government claiming at the time it would save taxpayers billions of dollars<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They set out the pay and conditions for construction union workers, including when they could stop work due to heat<\/strong>, and had applied to major state projects costing more than $100 million.<\/p>\n

Pausing BPIC drew the ire of the unions.<\/p>\n

Calls for heat policy to protect workers<\/a><\/p>\n

It has been 13 years since Jenny Newport’s son died from extreme heat while on a worksite in Queensland.<\/p>\n

The government has also agreed to review health and safety regulation, including mechanisms for dealing with workplace health and safety disputes, and the use of right-to-entry provisions on worksites.<\/p>\n

The commission, in its report, said it had heard from parts of the industry that had acknowledged a “cultural problem” with workplace health and safety provisions being used to further “alternative objectives” other than safety.<\/p>\n

However, the commission did recommend creating a policy for managing adverse weather events, including heat \u2013 an area the government has also agreed to review.<\/p>\n

\"Steven<\/p>\n

Opposition Leader Steven Miles accused the government of watering down heat and safety policy. (ABC News: Lucas Hill)<\/p>\n

Speaking in Mackay, Opposition leader Steven Miles accused the government of watering down heat and safety policies, saying nothing was more important than worker safety in an industry which could be dangerous.<\/p>\n

“I’m concerned that this government appears intent to force workers to work on building sites at extreme heat temperatures,” he said.<\/p>\n

“People around here know what it’s like to work in the heat. 36, 37, 38 degrees outdoors on roofs, pouring concrete.<\/p>\n

“They’re the kinds of protections that this government is targeting and the result will be workers dying on building sites.”<\/p>\n

The government says it will also seek to reduce red tape around procurement processes after the commission recommended a better focus on “value for money” and administrative simplicity.<\/p>\n

More apprentices needed<\/p>\n

Other changes will go to attempts to increase the number of workers in the construction industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Workforce shortages could ‘escalate costs’ ahead of Brisbane 2032<\/a><\/p>\n

The Queensland auditor-general says there will be a higher risk of delays and cost escalations for infrastructure projects ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games due to shortages in key trade occupations.<\/p>\n

For example, the government will review available training courses for construction and introduce a more targeted policy to boost the number of apprentices.<\/p>\n

It says it will also progress Queensland’s participation in the Automatic Mutual Recognition scheme, and streamline licensing processes for migrants, as well as continue to advocate for an increased allocation of skilled overseas migrants places.<\/p>\n

It has also removed the requirement for subcontractors to be pre-qualified to work on government construction projects.<\/p>\n

\"housing<\/p>\n

Housing Minister Sam O’Connor spoke at a media conference alongside the treasurer on Wednesday morning. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Housing Minister Sam O’Connor said analysis conducted by the state’s housing department had revealed 99 per cent of sub-contractors across the state were “locked out” of major government projects.<\/p>\n

“That was really cutting down the opportunities for subbies, for small and family businesses [and] regional businesses to get a piece of those government projects,” he said.<\/p>\n

Changes to zoning, land use<\/p>\n

The commission also recommended additional changes to zoning and the planning system, including prescribing statewide overlays for flooding and bushfires and removing character zoning.<\/p>\n

However, this was noted by the government. In its response, it said elements of that were “contrary” to its commitment to restoring planning partnerships with local governments.<\/p>\n

It also rejected a call for a statewide digital planning portal along with other suggested changes to zoning, including setting incentives for housing across different local government areas and setting up independent planning panels.<\/p>\n

\"Residential<\/p>\n

The commission made several recommendations about zoning and development aplications. (AAP: Dave Hunt)<\/p>\n

Zoning recommendations which were agreed to or agreed to in-principle included increasing zoning around transport hubs in south-east Queensland.<\/p>\n

The government has also agreed, in-principle, to review its multi-billion-dollar capital works program, which includes major Olympics-related projects.<\/p>\n

Mr O’Connor reiterated the government’s commitment to delivering on its infrastructure pipeline, and its target of one million new homes by 2044, including 53,000 social and affordable homes.<\/p>\n

He said these were not up for discussion.<\/p>\n

“The biggest handbrake on home ownership and on housing delivery [were] the productivity issues that we’re seeing on construction sites,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

he said.<\/p>\n

“For it to be the case that there are 15,000 fewer homes being delivered each year across this state than there were 30 years ago, it’s just completely unacceptable.”<\/p>\n

Chief executive of the Queensland branch of Master Builders Australia Paul Bidwell described the government’s response as “welcome”.<\/p>\n

However, he said some of the recommendations which were only “noted” should instead have been accepted in full.<\/p>\n

“We think it’s a missed opportunity,” he explained.<\/p>\n

Mr Bidwell said there would be challenges ahead when it came to meeting housing and infrastructure targets as well as getting enough skilled workers into the industry, but he believed they could be overcome.<\/p>\n

The report, and its recommendations, was also welcomed by the Civil Contractors Federation Queensland (CCF), with chief executive Damian Long saying it was “great to see the renewed focus on productivity from the government”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Queensland government has agreed to make sweeping changes across the construction industry, as an inquiry finds the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":532785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,9102,40132,2096,236075,50,11801,4797,4798,4790,79486,206077,39749,236074],"class_list":["post-532784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-australia","tag-building","tag-construction-industry","tag-heat","tag-labour-productivity","tag-news","tag-productivity-commission","tag-qld","tag-queensland","tag-queensland-government","tag-sector","tag-treasurer-david-janetzki","tag-unions","tag-workplace-health-and-safety"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115934598608494971","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}