Plumbers urge parties to take the plunge: Commit to trades or feel the economic drain

A publicly funded campaign to attract more young people to the trades and a single government touch point for construction industry businesses should be on the next ACT Governmnet’s to-do list, according to Master Plumbers ACT (MPA).

The MPA has released its election wishlist, highlighting the need to build a workforce that will deliver thousands of new homes for a growing Canberra and support the many small businesses behind new developments.

It wants government, working with industry associations such as MPA, to pay for an apprentice and trades campaign to encourage school leavers to enter the VET Sector, and promote employers providing placements for apprentices.

“What we’re asking is that the VET sector is promoted as a legitimate avenue for school leavers to enter and then establish themselves and create a career here in Canberra to do important work for everyone that needs it,” MPA CEO Shane Martin said.

He said the number of people entering the trade sector had fallen off a cliff, with about 54 per cent fewer people entering the trades this year compared to last year.

“If that trend continues, we’re simply not going to have the capability in the long-term future to build all of the homes that we’re all talking about,” Mr Martin said.

He said a campaign was needed because, at present, there was still a strong push to get school leavers into university, but there was another pathway into the VET sector that many were not aware of.

Independent Plumbing Group’s Terry McEwen said finding and retaining staff was quite challenging.

He said a government push in schools to back trades as a future job and business opportunity would really benefit the industry.

“The number of trades that are either not completing their apprenticeship or just coming on board to begin with is definitely hurting,” he said

However, a specialist trade like plumbing offered an excellent future for young people.

“There’s so much work in Canberra and so much more to come,” he said.

Mature-age first-year apprentice Ash Condon from Level Plumbing thought about a trade when she left school but, at the time, didn’t know of women in any trade.

“Over COVID, I got to re-evaluate and thought I’d really want to do something that would give me a hands-on skill,” she said.

MPA supported the government’s focus on getting more women and girls into trades. Mr Martin said increasing female participation would go a long way towards improving the situation but a general campaign would show school leavers where a trade could lead them, including creating business of their own.

It is also calling on government to increase the employer subsidy for apprenticeship programs.

Mr Martin said trade businesses were struggling with government regulation, so the MPA was calling for a coordinator general for businesses to tackle these issues.

He said they needed to be able to deal with the government in an easy-to-understand, streamlined manner.

“We are asking for the government to establish a coordinator general for business that allows a single touch point for the industry to deal with, to improve the way the business operates in Canberra and to achieve the success that benefits everyone,” Mr Martin said.

He said businesses were finding government hard to navigate because they were often dealing with multiple directorates at various different levels and being bounced from one to the other.

A coordinator general would also be able to advise the government on policy and services, coordinate programs for small and medium businesses, and advocate for them.

MPA is also calling for a trades ministerial advisory body and a business tax reform taskforce.