The Australian Constructors Association (ACA) welcomes the appointment of the six industry representatives on the new National Construction Industry Forum (NCIF), including ACA CEO Jon Davies.

“It is really pleasing to see this tripartite forum taking shape,” said Mr Davies.

“At the Jobs and Skills Summit last year, I said that Government, industry and unions need to let go of the baggage of the past and start working together to achieve real and lasting change.

“Today’s announcement highlights the forum’s significance as a space for collaboration so we can tackle the industry’s most pressing challenges together, head-on.”

The NCIF announcement follows the release of ACA’s report All Risk No Reward which identified that profit margins in the building sector have fallen to 1% and liquidity to 5%, with over half of all large builders meeting the technical definition of insolvency.

“A profitable construction industry is in everyone’s interests and should be a key priority for all governments,” said Mr Davies.

“As well as constructing the infrastructure needed to keep the economy competitive, governments are relying on the construction industry to help fix the housing crisis, build the new energy assets that will help us meet our decarbonisation targets, and build the defence infrastructure needed to keep the country secure.

“This is the same industry that accounts for 26% of all insolvencies, where women only make up 13% of the workforce and productivity is now less than it was thirty years ago.

“We urgently need to create a more sustainable, productive and diverse industry and the NCIF can play an important, if not vital, role in helping achieve this.

“There is no time to waste and I look forward to working collaboratively with other members of the forum and key industry partners to identify quick solutions to pressing problems and opportunities for longer-term reform.”