Master Builders Australia has today released its latest new home forecasts to 2026-27 which shows the nation is falling behind in meeting its housing targets.

Overall housing starts sit below the 200,000 per annum needed between 2022 and 2025, dipping to its lowest over 2022-23 before rebounding in 2026-27 says Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn.

“The current environment is a difficult one for the industry marked by rising interest rates, robust cost pressures and labour shortages. Despite this, the total volume of construction activity grew modestly (+1.5 per cent) to $215.1 billion during 2021–22.

“Whilst detached housing and renovations are stable or steadily growing off the back of the COVID stimulus boom, medium to high density remains hardest hit. This segment is more sensitive to interest rate fluctuations and is still recovering from the absence of inward migration over the past three years. Even before the pandemic, higher density dwellings were in decline.

“The challenge will be to make sure that we put downward pressure on building and construction costs to increase output.

“At present these challenges relate to supply of housing, workforce shortages – particularly key trades, bottlenecks in the market for key building materials and products, and increased costs from regulatory changes,” said Ms Wawn.

Alongside the forecasts, Master Builders has released its priorities on Delivering the housing needs for all Australians which outlines the key housing policy areas that need to be addressed by all levels of Government in order to achieve sustainable and affordable housing outcomes.

“The dream of owning and investing in housing is underpinned by a fair and equitable desire to improve social, economic and productivity benefits for the country. But in the current climate of economic uncertainty many are seeing this aspiration become too far out of reach with flow on effects across the economy.

“Struggles around housing affordability have persisted over many decades but with state, territory and federal governments committed to addressing the challenge, this key policy area needs to be at the forefront.

“While this represents a challenge, it also provides a real opportunity for bold reform to be advanced and for business and the communities in which they operate to be unshackled.

“The Federal Government has announced an ambitious plan for housing which is supported by Master Builders, and we will work closely with them to ensure the most effective levers are pulled and are practically implementable by the industry.

“To achieve better housing affordability in the future, changes need to be made to the way we do things, now and over the long-term.

“To address these pressures, Master Builders recommends responses around housing supply, the construction workforce, supply chain risk and cost pressures, simplifying regulatory settings, and providing taxation settings that support investment in housing and productivity,” said Ms Wawn.

Australian small businesses are being warned to brace for continuing labour shortages this year as staffing woes continue to impact operations across a range of industries. Phil Parisis, Head of Product and Sales at My Business, the country’s largest business organisation, says one of the biggest issues facing SME owners in 2023 will be how to attract and retain staff.

“For many small businesses who managed to survive COVID, these ongoing staffing shortages are the final straw,” he says.

“Whether it be being forced to reduce opening hours, having to put growth plans on hold or being unable to keep up with customer demand, the labour skills shortage is having a huge impact on workplaces across the country,” says Mr Parisis.

“A recent survey of our members found 77% of them have found the quality of job applicants average or below for the advertised role. They’re struggling to find the right people.”

Industries expected to continue to feel the brunt of labour shortages in 2023 include hospitality, retail, transportation and construction.

“As a small business owner, recruitment can be overwhelming, not only does it feel like larger organisations have a greater pull power and the ability to outbid workers but there’s also the additional responsibility of having to correctly onboard new staff and ensure everything is above board,” he says.

“Here at My Business we’re trying to make recruitment easier for SME’s by making things simple with tailored recruitment checklists and legally drawn up contract templates for hiring new staff.”

Mr Parisis offers these tips for small business owners on how to attract and retain staff in 2023:

Give them equity.

“Think about involving your people in the business through an employee share scheme. These are now easier and much cheaper to put in place than previously and they’re a great incentive to attract quality job candidates that relieves the pressure of having to offer competitive salaries. By allowing your employees to share in the growth and success of your business you’re also giving them a reason to stay.”

Be flexible

“Staff these days value flexibility so don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Don’t just offer remote or hybrid working but reconsider non-traditional working hours and be open to job sharing.”

Be human

“People want to work for businesses that care about more than money. Small businesses have a huge advantage over larger organisations because they can take advantage of their flatter organisational structure to make their staff feel cared for and valued.”

Benefits

“Re-evaluate what benefits you’re offering staff and what they cost to the business. Some of the most popular benefits you could offer are also cost effective such as shorter Fridays during the summer months.”

Personal touch

“During the hiring process make sure you respond to all your applicants. Help make them advocates for your business even if they don’t get the job.”

Master Builders Australia invites women with up to five years experience in the building and construction industry to apply for the 2023 Women Building Australia mentor program.

The program runs over nine-months commencing on 28 March with applications closing on 28 February.

“Mentees will be paired up with established industry leaders in the industry to access support, encouragement and advice through a mentorship relationship,” said Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn.

“With monthly engagements, program participants will also be required to attend the program launch, mid-program review and end of year wrap up.

“The building and construction industry is one of the largest sectors in Australia. During November 2022, there were 1.29 million people employed in the industry working in over 445,000 construction businesses.

“However, women currently make up only 13.6 per cent of the industry’s total workforce. Three in 10 professionals in the industry are women by only 3.5 per cent are building trades and technicians.

“The industry is missing out on the skills and talents of half the population by not attracting more women into trades.

“Improving the attractiveness of the industry to women presents a massive opportunity to increase the pool of potential workers and this program is one of the many initiatives through Master Builder’s Women Building Australia to assist,” said Ms Wawn.

Rebecca Bishop and owner of Elite Building is a mentor in the program: “I loved watching my mentee grow so much during our time together. Being a mentor helped me to grow and learn new skills too.

“We need more women in construction. I recommend the program to all women who want to build their network, feel less alone, develop better communication skills, work on themselves, feel more confident and make some new connections and friends,” said Ms Bishop.

2022 program participant Laura Stevenson, a carpenter by trade, said: “My mentor Tara who has many years experience in the industry was really great at giving me some insights on how to navigate it all and some ideas about the future.

“I was just starting off in my career and unsure at first of what I wanted in the program. I’d highly recommend this program to anyone starting out even if they felt unsure like me as it was nice feeling to work with someone who just gets it,” said Ms Stevenson.

Ms Wawn said the industry is making progress. The gender pay gap is declining faster than average. The proportion of women in all occupation groups, except administration, is increasing.

“There are more female trades and technicians in construction than ever before and the number of females commencing a trade apprenticeship has more than doubled in the last five years,” said Ms Wawn.

Women Building Australia is supported through a Federal Government grant and delivered through Master Builders Australia aimed to attract and support women to succeed in the building and construction industry. It includes a range of initiatives including career expos, a female led business register, business resilience training and a dedicated harassment and discrimination support line.

For more information and to apply for the mentorship program visit: www.womenbuildingaustralia.com.au

From bushfires, floods, lockdowns, inflation and labour shortage, Australian businesses have faced unprecedented challenges in recent years. In 2022, Australia also recorded the largest quarterly rise to the cost-of-living index since the September 2000 quarter^[1], with many economists predicting a recession for Australia in 2023. Despite these obstacles, new research reveals that half (48 per cent) of small-to-medium businesses are looking to expand this year, even while they believe there is a risk of recession.

The findings were derived from an independent survey commissioned by business loan comparison site Small Business Loans Australia. Respondents were 210 business owners and senior decision-makers across the full SME spectrum: micro (1-10 employees), small (11-50 employees) and medium-sized (51-200 employees), as well as a small percentage of large SMEs (more than 200 employees). The full survey results, including breakdowns across business sizes and states, can be found here: https://smallbusinessloansaustralia.com/growth-in-recession/  

Small Business Loans Australia asked respondents if they had focussed on growing their businesses in the last four years – three of which were hugely challenging for most businesses – and if they will grow their business this year. Surprisingly, the highest proportion of respondents (48 per cent) are focussing on growing this year. This is more than twice the proportion of respondents (22 per cent) who focussed on growth in 2022. 

The smallest proportion of businesses actively growing was in 2020 (just 20 per cent) and 2021 (17 per cent). Also surprising was the small proportion of businesses (18 per cent) who focussed on growth in 2019, before the pandemic.

Small Business Loans Australia analysed responses across the states and territories. Businesses in Western Australia demonstrated the highest growth, with 88 per cent of businesses having focused on growth at some point since 2019, followed closely by 86 per cent of businesses in New South Wales. From 2019-2020 West Australian businesses saw the most significant growth, chosen by 36 per cent of SMEs in 2019 and 28 per cent in 2020. In 2021 Victorian businesses focused on growth more than those in any other state, chosen by 22 per cent whilst South Australian businesses came out on top in 2022, chosen by 26 per cent. Businesses in the ACT were most confident about growth in 2023, with 60 per cent of businesses specifying they will use this year to focus on growth, despite a potential recession.

More than half of businesses in Queensland (52 per cent) and New South Wales (51 per cent) will focus on growth this year. Micro businesses are predicted to be the most positive about growth in 2023, sitting at 50 per cent, compared with 48 per cent of medium sized businesses and 37 per cent of small businesses. 

Alon Rajik, Founder and Managing Director of Small Business Loans Australia, says: “It is promising to see that almost half of the country’s SMEs consider 2023 as a period of growth for their business. Our research indicates that regardless of a potential economic slowdown, SMEs will continue to be resilient against hardship and confident in their ability to weather tough economic periods, after they have survived a series of unprecedented global and economic disruptions.  

“The challenges of the last three years, while putting a strain on so many businesses, motivated many to change the way they operated and to innovate, which steered many toward online trading and away from traditional shopfront selling.

“With the risks of a recession, however, businesses are best to make smart financial choices when expanding. When seeking financing to facilitate growth, it’s a good idea to shop around to secure low interest rates and fees.”

Epson has added 4K resolution to its newest generation of compact, efficient, ultra-lightweight, high-lumens 3LCD projectors. The new EB-PQ2000 projector series is on show at stand 3J100 at ISE this year from 31 January to 3 February.

The new 4K EB-PQ2000 series builds on the success of Epson’s PU2200 range of high lumens 3LCD projectors which are 60% smaller and 50% lighter than their predecessor (EB-L20000U), offering significant size and weight advantages, as well as easy installation and set-up, simplified maintenance, exceptional image quality and eco-advantages.

Epson’s latest 4K technology has combined its patented, state-of-the-art 4K Crystal Motion, panel thermo-control and double micro-lens array technologies to achieve optimal clarity.
 
The new range offers custom-built 4K graphic processing, with the latest chipset providing significant improvements in operating frequency, memory bandwidth and data transmission for a seamless 4K experience.
 
The EB-PQ2000 series also offers additional versatility and is compatible with the ELPEC01 optional camera unit, which provides the benefit of upgraded assistance techniques, such as built-in simple stacking and blending. In addition, Epson’s free EPPT software gives the user access to even more features, including geometric correction, colour calibration and multi-projection assistance tools.

Each projector in the EB-PQ2000 Series is supplied as ‘body only’, without a lens, giving the user the option to design and build the best, most optimal projection solution for the right application using Epson’s existing range of 4K high quality lenses without a change in throw ratios.
 
In a time of increasing energy and logistics costs, the range offers significant environmental benefits including lower power consumption, significantly reduced packaging requirements with a lower carbon footprint as the reduced weight and size means the projectors are easier to store, transport and install, saving on warehouse space as well as labour and delivery costs.
 
All models in the range include functionality that enables simple installation, stacking, lens flexibility and control. The range includes in-built processing for PC-free stacking and blending which means two supported projectors can be stacked to double the brightness or blended to specific aspect ratios without need of external computerware. Additional features include NFC functionality for simpler installation, enabling communication between projectors and NFC-compatible smartphones, even when the projector is off.

Epson projectors have become the industry benchmark for quality and flexibility, saving installation time and shipment costs and reducing environmental impact for the important and growing high brightness projector market segment.

This new series of projectors also answers the market need for more compact, space-saving, lighter, reliable and versatile high-lumens display solutions.

EPOS, the premium audio and video brand, is thrilled to today announce the release of the latest addition to its range of meeting room solutions – the EXPAND Vision 1M. With an ultra-sharp wide-angle 4K USB camera, the EXPAND Vision 1M is designed for companies seeking a simple solution to enlarge their meeting rooms with the use of video to accommodate the growing need for hybrid meetings, while providing professional image quality.

Be Seen at Your Best

With hybrid working set to continue throughout 2023 and beyond, the importance of image quality during virtual meetings should not be understated. Alongside its 4K resolution, the EXPAND Vision 1M features an 8X digital zoom, an integrated electro-mechanical privacy shutter, as well as intelligent picture framing powered by EPOS AI™, which dynamically adjusts based on the number of participants in the meeting to ensure everyone in the room can clearly be seen. Flexible mounting options mean the device can be installed with minimal effort and the camera settings and firmware can be managed and updated remotely using EPOS Manager.

EXPAND Vision 1M Intuitive Setup

Perfect for small and medium-sized meeting rooms, the EXPAND Vision 1M’s plug-and-play design makes it easy to integrate into any bring-your-own-device meeting room as well as any existing or new meeting room setups that have a compute box, as well as a monitor and speakerphone. The installation of a Kensington lock provides peace of mind that the camera will remain in place.

Trusted Stamp of Approval

Certified and optimised for leading UC providers, means users can enjoy seamless collaboration and focus their attention on the meetings themselves. The EXPAND Vision 1M works in conjunction with any Android or Windows device.
 
“At EPOS, we’ve had a strong focus on expanding our range of video devices since we entered the market in 2020,” Theis Mørk, VP of Product Management, said. “We believe that to get the most out of meetings, video conferencing needs to be a straightforward experience, free from distractions. The EXPAND Vision 1M delivers on that concept by offering customers a hassle-free option to level-up their hybrid meetings and bring professional picture quality to existing meeting room setups. Alongside our EXPAND Vision 3T and EXPAND Vision 5 solutions, the launch of the EXPAND Vision 1M means that EPOS now has a portfolio of video solutions that cater to all needs, budgets, and levels of technical know-how.”
 
Click here HERE for further information about the EXPAND Vision 1M.