Construction work futures: automation, robotics and work futures in the Australian construction industry

This report investigates how automation and robotics are playing a growing role in the construction industry and how this is likely to evolve in the future.

Drawing on design ethnographic research with expert tradespeople, safety specialists, educators and the industry’s new tech workers (including startups from outside the traditional boundaries of the sector) it surfaces new insight into innovation in the sector, and calls for greater attention to how humans will shape and work in the construction industry in possible futures.

Challenging existing assumptions about the industry’s “slow” digital transition, this report introduces a new Work Futures approach to understanding work, automation and robotics in the construction industry, that takes into consideration the complex nature of how Work Futures will unfold in this sector.