‘Australians don’t want to do the work’: Top restaurants slam migration crackdown

Leading Sydney restaurateurs say Australians don’t want to work hospitality jobs, voicing concern the federal government and opposition’s vocal efforts to slash migration and curb foreign students are stifling their industry.

A report released by Business NSW on Wednesday found eight in 10 businesses have had to boost pay or offer better conditions over the past year to stay competitive in the battle for skilled workers.

Judy McMahon, the owner of Catalina Restaurant in Rose Bay, relies on foreign hospitality students.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

Judy McMahon, owner of harbourside restaurant Catalina in Rose Bay, said more than half of her employees were on visas.

“I just can’t find Australians to do the work,” she said. “The idea that we have too many foreign students, and they will pare it back, just doesn’t add up. We’re crying out for skills.”

Labor had planned to cap international student numbers from 2025 but could not pass its legislation after the Greens and Coalition joined to block it.

But government policies over the past year designed to slow the pace of students entering the country have already slashed the number of visas being issued.

Education Minister Jason Clare has said those policies will stay in place in the absence of student caps.

The opposition has promised an even tougher foreign student crackdown if it wins next year’s federal election as both major parties square off on migration and blame it for the housing crisis.

McMahon said international students working to support themselves filled almost all of her kitchen hand positions while she relied on foreign hospitality students working towards qualifications in her pastry section.

“We’re all looking for the same skill sets, but there just aren’t enough to go around,” she said.

The restaurateur also employs working holiday workers and sponsors migrants for skilled jobs she cannot fill locally.

“When I advertise for a chef, I get no Australian applications whatsoever,” she said. “The idea that you should employ Australians first – I absolutely agree. But there simply aren’t enough people to employ.”

She said perceptions that businesses hired foreign workers to cut corners or rip people off were untrue.

“If you don’t pay people properly, they will move on,” she said. “But hospitality is very hard work: it’s a wonderful job, but you have to love it. I feel so fortunate I’ve got a good retention rate, and we are fairly high profile.”

The Business NSW report revealed 77 per cent of NSW employers were facing significant skills shortages – down from 93 per cent in 2022 but still above 51 per cent in 2019.

The lobby group’s chief executive, Daniel Hunter, called on the federal government to accelerate the number of skilled visas being issued and allow more international students into the country to ease a “critical skills shortage”, which he said was especially acute in hospitality and tourism.

“Australia is a nation that needs a good number of international students and skilled migrants to grow and prosper,” he said. “It’s too easy to hide behind housing supply issue rather than solve it. The federal government needs to accelerate the number of skills visas. We must ensure filling skills shortages is data-driven, not politics driven.”

Hunter said 36 per cent of employers with a staff shortage were relying on contractors and external service providers to bridge the gap, while others had resorted to getting “back on the tools” themselves.

The report also found 42 per cent of surveyed businesses said they had reduced the range of products or services they offered, while 36 per cent had deferred the expansion of their business.

There were 376,731 student visas issued last financial year, compared with 577,295 the year before.

In the first three months of 2024-25, there were 86,847 study visas issued, Home Affairs data shows – down on 103,519 issued the same time in 2023-24.

Peter Curcuruto, the owner of Rex Bistro in Potts Point, agreed that young Australians did not want to work in hospitality, saying they found it too hard and not glamorous enough.

“Australian kids don’t want to do the work, and they don’t see our industry as a career,” he said. “Local students working their way through uni is becoming a thing of the past. International students have been a nice category to have to plug holes because you know they’re here for a while. I’m not sure what the government thinks it’s doing.”

The median hourly wage for a waiter in Australia is about $31 an hour, according to ABS data. Under the Restaurant Industry Award, the minimum hourly rate for chefs, depending on their experience, is between $23.46 and $29.64 before penalty rates.

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