Australia in 2022 and thereafter may be giving America a run for its money in being the new “Land of Opportunity” for overseas persons looking to explore their ambitions and secure prospective employment. It is no secret that Australia is suffering from significant skill shortages across quite a few sectors and occupations. The National Skills Commission released its ‘2022 Skills Priority List Key Finding Report’ where the data demonstrated that the current labour market has been inhibited by a lack of workers available rather than unemployment, which is at its lowest since the 70’s. The research exposed 286 occupations that were experiencing shortages at a national level, compared to almost half this figure at 153 occupations this time last year.
The shortages were found in the occupation groups listed below in order of largest shortage:
- Professional occupations – majority of the shortages were found within the education and health care sectors including occupations such as Registered Nurse, Primary School Teacher and Secondary School Teacher.
- Technicians and Trades Workers – This included occupations such as Electrician (General), Carpenter, Chef and Motor Mechanic (General).
- Other occupation groups – This included occupations such as Machinery Operator, Aged Carer, Disability Carer and Child Care Worker.
The Australian Labor party have recognised the importance of migration and its effectiveness in addressing the significant skill shortages. With the problem having almost doubled in size and the Labor party’s takeover this year, the Australian government are prioritising this issue through a range of means. There has been discussion in the political sphere of the creation of new skilled visa programs and even the revamping of existing ones.
However, most notable of late has been the re-directing of resources to the Department of Home Affairs to focus on the processing of existing and new applications. Most notably evident in the TSS (subclass 482) visa program with 25% of applications processed within a month. With a significant backlog of more than 1 million (non-humanitarian) visa applications before the May federal election, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has since revealed that the backlog now sits at around 880,000 applications. The reduction was made possible via the $36 million budget directed to the Department to hire 500 extra staff over nine months in order to lower visa-processing times, in a refocus on Australia’s migration as a tool to combat a number of issues, including the skill shortages. Visa applications that have waited in abeyance for finalised processing can see this as comforting news and evidence of action.
If you have any questions about any type of visas please feel free to contact Nevett Ford Lawyers:
Nevett Ford Lawyers Melbourne
Telephone: +61 3 9614 7111
Email: melbourne@nevettford.com.au
Visit our website: www.nevettford.com.au