Sector throws support behind plan to tackle national skills shortage

Led by Settlement Services Australia, more than 50 organisations, including the Community Council for Australia, the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), the Brotherhood of St Laurence, Amnesty International and Diversity Council Australia, have thrown their support behind the Activate Australia’s Skills campaign.

The groups have endorsed an open letter to all major political parties calling for urgent action to help people with quality overseas qualifications living in Australia to secure jobs in areas of need such as construction and healthcare.

The alliance said that while a third of Australian occupations are experiencing a shortage of skilled workers, almost half of permanent migrants living in Australia – more than 621,000 people – work well below their skill level.

Campaign convenor Violet Roumeliotis, the CEO of Settlement Services International (SSI), said Australia’s skills recognition system is in desperate need of modernisation, but the cost-of-living and housing crisis has added a sense of urgency to the situation.

“Hundreds of thousands of Australians are blocked from using overseas qualifications by an endless maze of red tape and hurdles unrelated to their actual skills and experience,” said Roumeliotis.

“Meanwhile, we have communities suffering from skills shortages that mean people can’t access essential services, prices are going up and businesses are put at risk – especially in the outer suburbs and regions.”

The alliance has drafted a blueprint for activating Australia’s overseas-trained workforce which maps out four key changes it wants all parties to commit to ahead of the next federal election:

• A single national governance system for all overseas skills and qualifications recognition, including an ombudsman with regulatory power to provide independent oversight and transparency
• A seamless skills activation process with reduced red tape
• Removal of cost barriers and the introduction of an online portal with information on what people need to do and where they can get help
• Establishment of migrant employment pathway hubs with skills recognition navigators to help get qualified people from overseas working in their professions again.

Roumeliotis said the skills recognition system had become so complicated that the things that matter most – quality and experience – can get lost in a fog of hugely expensive fees, outdated paperwork, and slow, complex processes.

“We have doctors and electricians driving ride shares. We have engineers stacking shelves. We have nurses and pharmacists cleaning offices,” she said.

“The Activate Australia’s Skills Blueprint will get these experienced workers back into their professions: building houses, helping regional communities, caring for our loved ones.

“The diversity and power of the new alliance shows these solutions are popular and common sense. Everyone wins.”

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