HIA Welcomes $150m Forestry Growth Fund — 70% of House Frames Still Timber. Recast Materials Planning Off Import Hope Alone.
On Friday 4 September 2026 the Housing Industry Association welcomed the Federal Government's $150 million Forestry Growth Fund, saying secure timber supply is critical to building the homes Australia needs. HIA Chief Executive Industry & Policy Simon Croft said more than 70 per cent of house frames are constructed using timber and you cannot build 1.2 million homes without securing the materials. The program covers five streams; Croft highlighted $15 million for plantation establishment and $115 million for modern processing and innovation. Recast framing and procurement calendars on domestic fibre — not on the hope that offshore supply stays soft.
HIA welcomes $150m Forestry Growth Fund — timber still frames most Australian houses
The Housing Industry Association welcomed the Federal Government's $150 million Forestry Growth Fund on Friday 4 September 2026, saying secure timber supply is critical to building the homes Australia needs.
If your desk treated framing cost as a short-cycle import problem alone, recast that assumption. HIA frames the Fund as recognition that housing targets must be backed by the materials pipeline — plantations, processing and sovereign capability — not just by commencements headlines.
This article summarises figures and quotes as published by HIA on 4 September 2026. It is not procurement, contract or financial advice.
Five streams and the Croft prints
Under the $150 million program, grants and initiatives are delivered across five key streams focused on modernising the sector, supporting secure and well-paid jobs, strengthening innovation, securing sustainable fibre supply and increasing Australia's sovereign capability.
HIA Chief Executive Industry & Policy Simon Croft said the Forestry Growth Fund investment in plantations, timber processing, innovation and workforce capacity was a welcome recognition that housing targets must be backed by the materials needed to deliver them.
Croft: "You can't build 1.2 million homes without securing the materials needed to build them."
Croft: "Timber remains one of the most important building materials in Australian housing, with more than 70 per cent of house frames constructed using timber."
Plantations vs processing — the published split
From the same 4 September 2026 release:
- $15 million investment in plantation establishment — "The trees we plant today will determine the timber available to Australian builders in the decades ahead."
- $115 million investment in modern processing and innovation to strengthen local manufacturing and get more value from Australia's timber resources.
Croft linked the Fund to recent supply-chain disruptions: when critical building materials become scarce, costs rise, construction slows and builders and home buyers pay more. Strengthening domestic timber production and processing, he said, would help reduce Australia's exposure to international supply shocks while supporting manufacturing and regional jobs.
HIA said it has consistently called for a long-term national approach to timber and building-material security, and welcomed the Government's Forestry Growth Fund and Timber Fibre Strategy focus on sovereign capability.
Practical moves for the next four weeks
1. Recast framing quotes off "import soft forever". HIA's public line is that 70%+ of house frames still use timber and that 1.2 million homes need materials security. Align framing and truss lead times to known mill capacity in your region — do not invent mill volumes.
2. Separate plantation horizon from next-quarter slabs. The $15 million plantation print is a decades-ahead fibre signal. Do not treat it as a Q4 2026 price cut. Keep client conversations on published HIA figures, not on invented mill-gate discounts.
3. Map processing investment against your supply chain. The $115 million processing and innovation stream is about domestic manufacturing capacity. Note which processors and product classes your jobs actually buy — softwood framing, engineered, cladding — without inventing allocation odds.
4. Keep the disruption lesson on the record. Croft's published point: scarcity lifts cost and slows build. If your fixed-price book still assumes soft fibre forever, flag that assumption against the HIA release date.
5. Cite the Fund, not a brand pitch. Factual line for clients and lenders: HIA 4 Sep 2026 welcomed a $150m Forestry Growth Fund across five streams; 70%+ house frames timber; $15m plantations; $115m processing; materials security tied to the 1.2 million homes task.
Bottom line for the desk
On 4 September 2026 HIA welcomed the Federal Government's $150 million Forestry Growth Fund. Simon Croft said more than 70 per cent of house frames use timber and Australia cannot deliver 1.2 million homes without securing materials, highlighting $15 million for plantation establishment and $115 million for modern processing and innovation inside a five-stream program aimed at sovereign capability. Recast materials planning and framing calendars on domestic fibre capacity — not on the hope that offshore supply stays soft.
