The Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business has begun public consultation in the review of the skilled migration occupation lists.
The Department is meeting with interested stakeholders and will be organising roundtables with selected industries and groups across the country between now and February 2020.
As part of the review of the skilled migration occupation lists, the Department will publish a Traffic Light Bulletin which outlines the outcomes of initial labour market analysis, stakeholder consultation and views from across government.
The formal submission period opens in December 2019.
AREEA will make a submission seeking to have occupations which are of high concern for our industry placed on the skilled migration list.
AREEA will continue to provide further information and evidence in relation to the remaining occupations ineligible for skilled migration under these lists as part of industry consultation. The occupations identified as high priority by AREEA members, in particular drilling and maritime industry roles, continue to be the focus of attention.
Next steps
AREEA is seeking the input of interested members, and invites further information and where possible, evidence, to inform our submission.
The Department has indicated that it is seeking specific information that it might not understand purely from looking at national labour market data.
For instance, this particular information could go to specific projects or contracts and covers:
- Regional variations in the need for particular occupations
- Additional evidence on ‘niche’ or highly specialised skills within occupation categories
- A specific need for highly experienced workers within a particular occupation category, for example workers within 10 years’ experience
- The experience and remuneration levels of highly skilled staff where there may be gaps in the local labour market.
AREEA will continue to assist the Australian Government on skilled migration to avoid a scenario where nationally significant resources and energy projects are delayed by skills shortages, or competing for engineers, trades and skilled operators with the $100 billion worth of infrastructure projects in Australia’s development pipeline.
To provide input on the government’s ongoing skilled migration reviews, please contact the AREEA Policy team via [email protected].