Federal Government’s migration changes offer potential to fill industry skills shortages

The Federal Government’s new 10-year migration strategy - which includes moves to cut migration numbers - has been welcomed by industry groups and trade unions.

With temporary migration to Australia having jumped sharply over the past year, the new measures include tightening visa processes for migrant workers and international students.

Aiming to remove the complexity of the current system, the new strategy will focus on skills that will benefit the Australian economy.

Welcoming the changes, Business Council of Australia Chief Executive, Bran Black said the Migration Strategy included better long-term permanent migration planning that would enable better linkages with housing and infrastructure planning.

Black advised “Australia’s prosperity, our jobs, our living standards and the strength of our economy are all directly linked to a successful, efficient and well targeted migration program and these changes get the balance right.

“We need nurses for health and aged care, specialist engineers to support our energy transition, and experts for cyber security, and by filling these roles we are supporting Australian businesses and at the same time improving the lives of Australians.”

However, Black added “migration is not a substitute for investment in Australian jobs and skills but it is a key tool to fill skills shortages, bring in the best global talent, and address the nation’s demographic challenges.

“The simple fact is Australia is not producing certain skill-sets at home in the quantities needed, and that means we need to attract people with those skill-sets from overseas.”

Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) Australia Chief Executive, Margy Osmond said the Migration Strategy marked major progress, but suggested some areas require further development in relation to regional migration and international students, who are a critical part of the tourism workforce.

Osmond stated “changes to the international student visa will have to be closely monitored to ensure there isn’t further pain for the tourism industry, which is still in recovery.

“And further work is needed to address shortages of lower-paid workers in some roles below $70,000, as many smaller tourism and hospitality operators are still struggling to find Australian workers to fill these positions.”

Noting that overall, the sector feels extremely positive about the potential of the strategy to help support tourism, by providing a clear pathway to attracting skilled workers to help deliver a world-class visitor experience, Osmond added “this is significant progress towards attracting the skilled workers we desperately need to encourage tourism and help Australia compete in one of the most competitive global tourism markets we’ve ever seen.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) said the new Migration Strategy would repair legacy of damage and neglect and will go a long way to ending the exploitation of the migration system, by removing visa conditions that effectively bond workers to their employers.

It welcomed the new Skills in Demand visa which it sees as enabling temporary skilled migrant workers mobility in the labour market.

ACTU Assistant Secretary, Liam O’Brien noted “Australian Unions support a rebalancing of our migration system to one based on permanent migration. Previous generations of migrant workers were able to build lives here in Australia with their families and become permanent members of our workplaces and our communities.

“But over the past decade we’ve seen our migration system shift to one based on temporary, employer-sponsored migration, where workers are on insecure short-term visas, and reliant on their employer for their ability to stay in the country.”