Australian Construction Industry Futures
This report examines how dominant industry, consultancy, government and policy reports present the future of the Australian construction industry, and identifies and synthesises the key emerging trends that their visions claim are shaping the sector?s medium- to long-term trajectories from 2030 to 2050. The findings are drawn from a qualitative content analysis of 47 reports published between 2014 and 2025.
We found that four interconnected domains were represented in the reports reviewed: Markets and Customers, Sustainability and Resilience, Emerging Technologies and Regulation, and People and Skills. These were intersected with a set of key trends which include: population growth, urbanisation, the rising demand for transport infrastructure, the impacts of climate change, the global transition to net-zero emissions, skills shortages in energy-related occupations, and the increasing role of regulation and imported components in construction processes.
“I hope the insights we share in this report will spark interest in envisioning and planning sustainable, plural and diverse futures for Australian construction.” - Dr. Nedha de Silva
By mapping these dominant and existing visions of the industry’s future, we deliver an overview of how the construction sector is responding to and envisaged to respond to shifting demographic, environmental, technological, and regulatory landscapes. However we note that these visions consistently do not account for the way people and their practices and values will shape possible futures. Drawing on social science insight, we highlight how attention to future ways and life and priorities will complicate the visions represented in the reports reviewed, and we suggest possible alternatives.
Research team
Dr Nedha de Silva
Laureate Professor Sarah Pink
We thank our colleagues at the Emerging Technologies Research Lab for their continued support and inspiration, the FUTURES Hub and Bianca Vallentine and Hatoun Ibrahim for their report design, layout and visual contributions. This report was funded by the Australian Government through a collaboration between: Professor Sarah Pink’s Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship ‘The impact of human futures on Australia’s digital and net zero transition’ (FL230100131); and the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Projects funding Scheme project ‘Net Zero Precincts: an interdisciplinary approach to decarbonising cities’(LP200100296) in partnership with Monash University, ENGIE, City of Monash, ICLEI Oceania, CSIRO, City of Greater Dandenong, Energy Efficiency Council and Swinburne University.
Contact: nedha.desilva@monash.edu
Contact: Nedha De Silva
Email: nedha.desilva@monash.edu