❓ Hon Anthony Spagnolo asks about the size of the residential construction workforce in WA from 2017-2026. The Minister provides ABS data, noting it only captures workers directly employed by residential building companies and provides figures for each year requested.
AnsweredQoN 1486Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the residential construction workforce in Western Australia, and I ask:(a) what is the current size of the residential construction workforce in Western Australia; and(b) what was the size of the residential construction workforce in:(i) 2017;(ii) 2018;(iii) 2019;(iv) 2020;(v) 2021;(vi) 2022;(vii) 2023;(viii) 2024; and(ix) 2025?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
14 May 2026
Responded by
Leader of the House representing the Minister for Skills and TAFE
Response time
6 days
(a)-(b)
Western Australia’s building and construction industry workforce comprises approximately 161,000 workers. Workers may operate across multiple industry sectors, including civil, commercial and residential.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides labour force data for Residential Building Construction. Note that this only captures workers employed directly by residential building companies. It does not capture residential construction workers employed by companies that operate across multiple or all sectors of the State’s construction industry.
Based on ABS data, the 12-month average Residential Building Construction employment level in Western Australia over the year to February 2026 was approximately 17,490 persons. Data for preceding years is provided in the table below.
Year Average Employment Level 2025 15,400 2024 14,400 2023 13,000 2022 13,800 2021 14,000 2020 12,000 2019 11,200 2018 13,100 2017 12,900
Year
Average Employment Level
2025
15,400
2024
14,400
2023
13,000
2022
13,800
2021
14,000
2020
12,000
2019
11,200
2018
13,100
2017
12,900
Western Australia’s building and construction industry workforce comprises approximately 161,000 workers. Workers may operate across multiple industry sectors, including civil, commercial and residential.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides labour force data for Residential Building Construction. Note that this only captures workers employed directly by residential building companies. It does not capture residential construction workers employed by companies that operate across multiple or all sectors of the State’s construction industry.
Based on ABS data, the 12-month average Residential Building Construction employment level in Western Australia over the year to February 2026 was approximately 17,490 persons. Data for preceding years is provided in the table below.
Year Average Employment Level 2025 15,400 2024 14,400 2023 13,000 2022 13,800 2021 14,000 2020 12,000 2019 11,200 2018 13,100 2017 12,900
Year
Average Employment Level
2025
15,400
2024
14,400
2023
13,000
2022
13,800
2021
14,000
2020
12,000
2019
11,200
2018
13,100
2017
12,900
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.