Resources and energy employers have welcomed yesterday’s announcement to open Australia up to international labour in a bid to ease crippling skills shortages.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said opening Australia’s border to skilled and student visa holders was part of securing the country’s economic recovery.
“Australia continues to take further steps to safely reopen to the world, with additional changes to our international border arrangements coming into effect on 1 December,” he said.
From 1 December 2021, fully vaccinated eligible visa holders can come to Australia without needing to apply for a travel exemption. Eligible visa holders including skilled cohorts.
Reopening skilled migration to supplement Australia’s talent pool will be crucial to securing the enormous pipeline of projected growth in the resources and energy industry, said Steve Knott AM (pictured), Chief Executive of Australian Resources and Energy Group AREEA, said.
“The announcement on international skilled immigration is very welcome news for Australia’s resources and energy industry which has been crippled by skills shortages,” he said.
“In daily conversations with AREEA’s resources and energy members, working in all sub-sectors right across the nation, finding the right number of skilled employees continues to be the most pressing and most severe challenge.
“Despite leading the nation’s economic performance throughout COVID-19, difficulties in attracting skilled employees in the scale required has presented a very real risk to future resources and energy project growth and the enormous role it will play in Australia’s fiscal recovery.”
AREEA’s annual workforce forecasting report has identified 98 projects that are advanced in planning stages and could create over 100,000 jobs between now and 2026.
“Without access to supplementary international skilled labour, even in the very small numbers utilised by resources employers historically, many of these projects may be deemed unviable to proceed,” Mr Knott said.
“The national Labour Market Portal also predicts key resources and energy occupations – including mining and petroleum engineers, geophysicists, skilled operators and trade technicians – will remain in very tight supply over coming years.
“There needs to be a circuit breaker to the present unsustainable situation of Australian industries cannibalising each other for talent. This is occurring across the skills spectrum from operators and tradespeople to chefs, hospitality professionals and cleaners.
“The arrival of skilled migrant employees in some of these key occupations will ease the great anxieties of employers on how they will both continue to resource existing operations and secure the skills required to support expansion and new project growth.”
Skills shortages, labour supply and skilled migration are key areas of AREEA advocacy and representation, especially over the past two years as challenges become acute. Contact [email protected] to learn more and/or get involved.
Additional details – Australia’s border reopening
From 1 December 2021, fully vaccinated eligible visa holders can come to Australia without needing to apply for a travel exemption. Eligible visa holders include skilled and student cohorts, as well as humanitarian, working holiday maker and provisional family visa holders.
Under these arrangements, travellers must:
- Be fully vaccinated with a completed dosage of a vaccine approved or recognised by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
- Hold a valid visa for one of the eligible visa subclasses
- Provide proof of their vaccination status
- Present a negative COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test taken within three days of departure.
Travellers to Australia must comply with the quarantine requirements in the state or territory of their arrival, and any other state or territory to which they plan to travel.
The return of skilled workers and international students to Australia will further cement our economic recovery, providing the valuable workers our economy needs and supporting our important education sector.
From 1 December 2021, Australia will also welcome back fully vaccinated citizens from Japan and the Republic of Korea. Under these arrangements, citizens of Japan and the Republic of Korea who hold a valid Australian visa will be able to travel from their home country quarantine-free to participating states and territories, without needing to seek a travel exemption.
Under these arrangements, travellers must:
- Depart from their home country
- Be fully vaccinated with a completed dosage of a vaccine approved or recognised by the TGA
- Hold a valid Australian visa
- Provide proof of their vaccination status
- Present a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within three days of departure.
Today’s announcement follows earlier changes which have seen us welcome home fully vaccinated Australians, permanent residents and their immediate family members since 1 November, and follows the commencement of the Singapore safe travel zone yesterday.
These changes demonstrate the success of our National Plan, as the Government continues to get Australia back to normal and reopen to the world safely.
