Major Growth Forecast For Australian Construction Industry

Good news for anyone looking for work in construction engineering – the Australian construction industry is on the rise! After a three-year decline between 2013 and 2016, the industry has been growing steadily since 2017. According to the Construction Outlook Survey, which collects data from 100 companies employing almost 60,000 people across the country, the industry saw a rise of 7.1% in 2017-18 and will rise a further 6.8% in 2018-19.

The increase in major project work is attributed to increased activity in non-mining infrastructure and commercial building. A couple of key factors are at play: an increase in government spending on transport infrastructure projects, and higher spending from the private sector in commercial building projects.

According to the Construction Outlook Survey, the three-year decline in industry activities, caused by a reduction in the mining sector, is now over. Increasing activity in the transport and commercial building sectors have now fully compensated for the negative impacts of a declining mining industry.

At the forefront of these increasing trends is construction engineering. Innes Willox, AI Group chief executive, says the outlook is extremely positive for businesses, their employees and those looking for work.

“Rising momentum in new road and rail projects, together with telecommunications infrastructure including the NBN, will also see strong growth in the value of engineering construction, which is expected to rise by 8.0% in 2017-18 and a further 10.6% in 2018-19 after shrinking by 6.5% in 2016-17,” he said.

While construction engineering activity is on the rise, 2018-2019 will see a sharp turn-around in apartment building activity. The survey also showed that labor shortages and increased labour costs will increase pressure on major projects.

That said, the survey indicates that commercial Australian construction will pick up over the coming years, as it gets through a huge pipeline of work. In this sector, 2016-17 was mostly stable and 2017-18 saw an increase by just 1.8%, but 2018-19 will see a rise of a whopping 9.4%.

Thanks to NSW and Victorian growth factors, and their accommodating metropolitan and regional infrastructure needs, we have good prospect across the industry for businesses, employers and people looking for work.

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