Which Trades Are in Shortage in Victoria?

Victoria presents a puzzle. Nationally, trades are the worst-affected occupation group for shortages. Yet Melbourne has the cheapest electricians of any capital city in Australia.

Both things are true, and understanding why is more useful than either fact alone.

The national picture

Jobs and Skills Australia's assessment:

• 50% of Technicians and Trades Workers occupations in national shortage - the worst-affected major group
• All Construction Trades occupations in shortage
• 67 trades occupations in persistent shortage since 2021
• 36% of all occupations in shortage nationally, 332 of 916

These figures are from JSA's 2023 assessment cycle. Check the current Occupation Shortage List before quoting them.

Shortage is rated as No Shortage, Regional Shortage, Metropolitan Shortage or national Shortage, assessed at national and state level. A vacancy fill rate below 67% signals a high probability of shortage.

Where Melbourne sits

SEEK, refreshed 1 September 2026:

• Electrician — Melbourne: $85,000 - $100,000 · National: $95,000 - $115,000 · Brisbane: $100,000 - $120,000
• AC & refrigeration technician — Melbourne: $100,000 - $110,000 · National: $85,000 - $105,000 · Brisbane: $75,000 - $95,000
• Plumber — Melbourne: $90,000 - $100,000 · National: $85,000 - $100,000 · Brisbane: $90,000 - $95,000
• Fire technician — Melbourne: $105,000 - $110,000 · National: $90,000 - $110,000 · Brisbane: $110,000 - $120,000

Electricians are below the national band. Refrigeration technicians are well above it. In Queensland it is the exact reverse.

What that tells you

[Interpretation, not measured fact.] National shortage figures are national. They flatten out the fact that a trade can be genuinely scarce in one state and comparatively available in another.

Victoria appears to have relative depth in general electrical and relative scarcity in refrigeration and mechanical services. That fits a commercial and high-rise building stock that needs chillers, VRF systems and building management integration - work requiring a full RAC01 licence and real plant experience - while general electrical supply is comparatively well served.

The practical read for a Victorian employer: do not apply a national shortage narrative uniformly across your trades. Your electrical roles and your refrigeration roles are in different markets, and treating them the same will overpay one and starve the other.

The 1% statistic

Across Australia, only 1% of employers adjusted remuneration in 2023 to address skills shortages.

In a state where refrigeration technicians command $100,000-$110,000 while the national band starts at $85,000, an employer working from national figures is $15,000 short before they begin - and is unlikely to be among the 1% who corrected for it.

What to do

Separate your trades. Price electrical off the Melbourne band, refrigeration off the Melbourne band, and stop using one "trades" figure for both.

Use the electrical advantage deliberately. Melbourne is the cheapest capital-city electrical market in the country. If your budget was built on national numbers, you have room - use it on the roles that actually need it.

For refrigeration and mechanical services, budget up. And name the licence class. Commercial and industrial plant needs RAC01. A candidate holding RSS03 is licensed for split systems under 18kW and nothing more, and both CVs will say "ARCtick licensed".

Measure your own fill rate against 67%. That tells you more about your position than any national statistic.

HJ Recruitment places permanent electrical, plumbing, HVAC and refrigeration, fire and solar tradespeople with Australian employers.

Sources- Jobs and Skills Australia - Current skills shortages- SEEK - Electrician salary, Melbourne- SEEK - AC & Refrigeration Technician salary, Melbourne