Building products group Brickworks has called for an overhaul of tax and workplace rules in the construction sector.
Australia's largest maker of bricks and tiles on Thursday reported record annual revenue, but said growth was being stymied by inflexible regulations.
"Although housing activity is now taking up the slack in the broader Australian economy, if the country is to return to higher levels of economic growth over the long term, significant reform is required," chairman Robert Millner said.
He said many businesses in Australia were suffering because of a distinct disadvantage in their cost structure.
Brickworks is making significant investment in staff training and development programs, but labour productivity continues to be stymied by inflexible workplace regulations, he said.
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While Brickworks expects earnings to improve in 2016 on the back of the property boom in Sydney and Melbourne, it sees capacity constraints contributing to unrealistic price rises.
"Governments across Australia need to do more to overcome land title bottlenecks, delays in building approvals and trade shortages," managing director Lindsay Partridge said.
He cited the example of property investors in NSW, saying a young person who buys a block of land in the state today wouldn't be able to move into the house for another three to four years due to tedious approvals for land title and construction.
He also flagged the need for tax reforms, saying some unnecessary taxes were adding to the costs and affected businesses competing in the international market. Brickworks exports its building products to Japan and New Zealand.
The company said payroll tax is tantamount to a fine on employing people and should be abolished.
"Tax reforms is a key issue for us. If we are trying to be a world class economy and compete worldwide, we have got to take the taxes off the cost of production," Mr Partridge told Sky Business.
Earlier this week, newly installed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called for reforms, including those in the tax system, to help Australia become more competitive.
His new Treasurer Scott Morrison has flagged income tax cuts and a housing affordability package as some of his initial priorities.
