Training proposal to boost skills

The proposal being considered by Skills and Training Minister Brendan O’Connor for foreign workers to obtain Australian vocational qualifications in their home countries has the potential to plug skills shortages, especially in sectors such as aged care where the lack of staff is a serious problem. A group of aged-care providers led by Anglicare has been urging the Albanese government to establish overseas training programs to help provide a sustainable source of workers. A recent report commissioned by Catholic Health Australia that found a worker shortfall of 60,000 in the aged-care sector also recommended such action, as well as higher pay for staff to attract a sustainable workforce.

Mr O’Connor agreed that chronically low wages in the care industry had created a “churn” of workers. He reiterated the government’s pledge to fund fully a pay rise being reviewed by the Fair Work Commission. At least 14 Australian universities operate campuses overseas, offering pre-university, undergraduate and postgraduate programs. As Mr O’Connor told The Weekend Australian, the vocational education and training system could follow in the footsteps of the university sector, which had forged deep relationships in the Asia-Pacific region. Such a development required significant federal investment, he said. But with an estimated shortfall of 423,000 workers across the economy, it also could help solve worker shortages outside aged care.

The proposal for potential immigrants to undertake Australian VET training would help offset a trend in Australia in which enrolments for VET qualifications have dwindled as students seek to obtain university qualifications rather than practical certificates. Depending on what courses were provided, potential immigrants could obtain Australian qualifications in trades, retail, hospitality, technology and administration, as well as health and care, while still living in their home countries.

Overseas training courses would provide integrity and rigour because they would be delivered by Australian-run providers, Mr O’Connor said. At a session at the government’s Jobs and Skills Summit on the role of migration in resolving skills and labour shortages, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil announced the permanent migration cap would be lifted from 160,000 to a record 195,000 places this year. Visas for foreign workers would be expedited as well.

The government has identified Indonesia and India as potential sources for students to study Australian VET courses in their own countries and who could relocate to Australia later. Mr O’Connor and Education Minister Jason Clare had discussions with Indian Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan last month to discuss collaboration in skills acquisition. Mr Pradhan emphasised his interest in “skilling India’s youth for the many opportunities in Australia”.

As Ms O’Neil told the Jobs and Skills Summit, it needed to be recognised that “we are in a global war for talent”. Worker shortages will act as a brake on productivity and economic growth. They also will have an adverse impact on quality of life, especially that of older people who would miss out on the care they needed in their own homes and in aged-care homes.

In a world where the competition for workers is increasing, the proposal put to the government by aged-care providers is the type of innovative solution Australia must consider if the nation is to attract and retain the workers it needs.