Australia's energy landscape is shifting faster than at any point in our history.

The oil shortage causing disruption of global supply chains has brought into sharp focus that Australia’s  economic security is inextricably linked to our energy security and more particularly a clean energy future. Our future need for licensed electricians is becoming more critical by the day.

The recent fuel crisis has accelerated what was already a reported trend. EV sales are rising sharply in 2026.

EV new market share rose to 15% in March. The Electric Vehicle Council reported an increase of 40% in EV sales in the first quarter of 2026, compared with the same period last year for two leading brands (Tesla and Polestar). This is combined with a substantial increase in Australians actively considering purchasing a new or used EV.

As more EVs are sole, more EV chargers are needed.

Australians are continuing to install small-scale batteries at a rapid rate, and the acceleration to electrification will continue the trend. Solar panels continue to be installed, whether new, adding to existing systems or replacing old panels.

Each of these technologies requires a skilled, licensed electrical workforce to install, connect and commission safely.

This is not a blip. It is a structural shift, and it is accelerating.  Australia needs more licensed electricians to meet this demand. And currently, the pipeline to produce them is not keeping pace.

Master Electricians Australia, Powering Skills Organisation, the Clean Energy Council, and a growing number of industry bodies and analysts have all flagged the skills pipeline as a critical constraint on Australia’s net zero ambitions.

The scale of the challenge is significant. Australia will need tens of thousands of additional electrical workers over the coming decade to deliver on its electrification commitments — across residential, commercial and industrial settings. This includes not just new solar and storage installations, but the upgrading of switchboards and wiring in older homes to support EV charging, the electrification of gas appliances as households move away from fossil fuels, and the significant grid-level infrastructure work required to support a fundamentally different energy system.

When people picture the clean energy sector, they tend to imagine large-scale infrastructure projects and major contractors. But the majority of solar installations, EV charger installs, battery connections and energy efficiency upgrades happening across Australia right now are being delivered by small-to-medium sized electrical businesses. This includes owner-operators perhaps with a handful of employees, running tight schedules, tight margins, and doing exceptional work in communities. These businesses are not just delivering the energy transition. They are also training the next generation of people who will sustain it.

Small-to-medium electrical contractors are the backbone of apprenticeship training in Australia. They take on apprentices because they believe in the trade and they understand that training the next generation is necessary for the success of the industry. It is a significant commitment, given the time, cost and patience that bringing an apprentice through requires.

That commitment, multiplied across thousands of small businesses nationwide, is how Australia produces a substantial portion of its licensed electricians. And it is a commitment that deserves far more recognition and support than it currently receives.

This is where policy needs to catch up with reality. A big part of the skills solution starts with recognising small-to-medium electrical businesses as strategic assets in the clean energy economy.

Apprenticeship incentives, workforce planning frameworks and industry policy need to be designed with small and medium business at the centre, not as an afterthought. That means meaningful support for the cost of taking on and supervising an apprentice. It means cutting the administrative burden that makes the process harder than it needs to be.

There is also a broader cultural shift required. The electrical trade is a genuinely outstanding career pathway: skilled, well-paid, in demand and increasingly central to the technologies that will define the next fifty years of Australian life. The young people who become electricians today will be the ones installing clean energy resources that will power Australia’s future.

We need to better educate school students of the career paths available in the energy sector and the benefits of learning the electrical trade.

Australia’s net zero future will be built by skilled energy sector workers including electricians. It will be delivered by Australian businesses that made the effort to hire and train an apprentice. The fuel crisis of 2026 has given us a sharp and uncomfortable glimpse of what energy insecurity looks like. The answer is within reach. We need to invest not only in clean energy technology, but also in the small-to-medium businesses that train the future skilled workforce.

By Kate Raymond, CEO, Master Electricians Australia