Professionals Australia Joins Campaign to Address Australia’s National Skills Shortage

Professionals Australia has joined an alliance of more than 50 unions, businesses and community organisations, in a new campaign to address Australia’s severe skills shortage.

The Activate Australia’s Skills campaign, led by Settlement Services Australia, calls for urgent action to assist skilled migrant workers living in Australia in securing jobs in areas of need.

Despite facing a skilled worker shortage across a third of all occupations nationally, half of permanent migrants living in Australia are currently working well below their skill level with hundreds of thousands of Australians blocked from using overseas qualifications by hurdles that are not related to their actual skills including expensive fees, outdated paperwork requirements and slow, complex processes.

Meanwhile, there are communities suffering from skills shortages that mean people can’t access essential services.

The campaign highlights four key priorities to activate Australia’s overseas-trained workforce it calls on 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.