Let backpackers work with one employer for a year, advocacy body G21 says

As our region stares down the barrel of a worker shortage of 18,000 people, local mayors say a visa change is desperately needed to fix the crisis.

Geelong Mayor Trent Sullivan.

A permanent extension to the length working holiday visa holders can work for an employer would help fill skills gaps and worker shortages that could hit 18,000 in the Geelong region by 2025.

That’s the message from G21 – the Geelong advocacy group that represents the region’s five councils – which raised the issue in recent meetings at federal parliament.

A temporary condition of the Working Holiday Makers visa will allow holders to work for the same employer until the end of the year, effectively doubling the previous six-month limit.

G21 want a permanent extension to the limit allowing the cohort to work for the same employee for up to a year.

City of Greater Geelong Mayor Trent Sullivan said skills and worker shortages in the region were “dire”.

“We are desperately in need of teachers especially in vocational training, childcare, healthcare, hospitality, council services and manufacturing workers. We anticipate a shortage more than 18,000 people in our region by 2025,” Mr Sullivan said.

The 18,000 shortage is based on an analysis by state government’s Victorian Skills Authority.

Geelong Mayor Trent Sullivan.

Queenscliffe Mayor Isabelle Tolhurst.

Borough of Queenscliffe Mayor Isabelle Tolhurst said the hospitality sector was in an unsustainable holding pattern.

“Our hospitality sector is especially under pressure. In Geelong and on the Bellarine, the tourism spend has returned to pre-pandemic levels, but this has been achieved with a 57 per cent reduction in jobs, which is unsustainable,” Ms Tolhurst said.

“Staff burnout and turnover is high, opening hours are inconsistent and the quality of service is at risk of being compromised by the strain.”

Surf Coast Shire Mayor Liz Pattison said the extension to the employer threshold for the Working Holiday Makers visa would give businesses stability.

“This would give our businesses more staffing stability and attract workers to the region with the promise of ongoing employment,” Ms Pattison said.

“The Working Holiday Makers visa also allows workers in some industries to stay two to three years and we are urging the government to include hospitality in this category.”

Federal Immigration Minister Andrew Giles did not respond specifically when asked if the government would permanently continue a 12-month employer threshold for the Working Holiday Makers visa.

A federal government spokeswoman said: “In December, the government extended the exemption backpackers can work for one employer to 30 June. This provided certainty for many, including the tourism sector, over summer and into 2023.”

In March, the government also took steps to speed up processing times for skills visas for regional areas.

The spokeswoman said the former Liberal government left a visa backlog of almost one million, which the government had reduced to less than 600,000.

G21 chief executive Giulia Baggio said the recent Geelong region delegation to federal parliament asked politicians to think about how the region sustains its massive population growth, and deals with a shortage of affordable housing for workers and patchy digital connectivity.

Originally published as Let backpackers work with one employer for a year, advocacy body G21 says