Fix needed as jobs go begging in the bush

Job vacancies in regional Aus­tralia have more than doubled since the start of the pandemic, sparking calls for the federal government to urgently address the workforce crisis.

New figures show job vacancies in the bush soared to 89,900 in July, up from 40,744 positions in January 2020.

Job vacancies in regional Aus­tralia have more than doubled since the start of the pandemic, sparking calls for the federal government to urgently address the workforce crisis.

Ahead of the jobs and skills summit this week, the Regional Australia Institute has released data as part of a 10-year plan to lock in prosperity and close the gap between urban and rural areas.

New figures show vacancies in the bush soared to 89,900 in July, up from 40,744 positions in January 2020.

The number of employers who have had trouble finding workers has also spiked in the past three years, reaching a high of 77 per cent compared with 37 per cent in 2019.

Regional Australia Institute chief executive Liz Richie said the data would put pressure on the government to address workforce shortages in the bush, and argued the problem must be tackled through “big picture thinking”.

“It is not good enough to say regional Australia is behind,” she said. “We need to look at how we start closing the divide, so ­regional Australians have equal opportunities in health, em­ployment, housing, and digital connectivity.

“The new ambition lays out a framework to ‘rebalance the ­nation’ and rebalancing also leans into how we have an enormous opportunity in a post-pandemic world to rethink our nation.

“The trajectory we were on was a future of megacities, and this is not a ­trajectory we want.”

The regional think tank is also urging the government to address school attainment rates in ­regional Australia compared with capital cities.

Just 54 per cent of regional students completed year 12 last year, compared with 79 per cent in capital cities. This number falls to 47 per cent of students in remote parts of the country.

Under the plan – set to be released in full in mid-September – the Regional Australia Institute will seek to increase the share of skilled workers in the regions from 73 per cent to 80 per cent of the labour force, increase the year 12 attainment rate to 75 per cent or above and boost post-school qualification to 65 per cent.

The institute conducted surveys, interviews and focus groups input to capture the sentiments of about 30,000 people in regional Australia in collaboration with KPMG and Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Ms Richie said regional economies were “far more” sophisticated than in the past, and that meeting complex jobs and skills needs would require a collective effort.

“At its core is the goal to shift the dial on what we know is holding our regions back from reaching their potential,” Ms Ritchie said.

“We need to ensure we can ‘grow from within’ and that ­regional workers have the learning pathways available locally to obtain the skills needed, to fill the roles available now and in the future.”