NSW Minister calls for significant acceleration of skilled migration

NSW Skills Minister Alister Henskens has called on the Albanese government to implement a ‘significant acceleration of skilled migration’.

NSW Skills Minister Alister Henskens. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

NSW Skills Minister Alister Henskens has called on the Albanese government to implement a ­“significant acceleration” of the nation’s skilled migration program, warning that without remedy, the acute labour shortage will continue to act as a “handbrake” on the state’s economy.

With the worker shortage placing businesses under stress, Daniel Hunter, chief executive of Business NSW, said a resolution could not be delayed until Anthony Albanese’s Jobs and Skills Summit in September, and the “clock is ticking” for employers.

Ahead of a virtual roundtable of the nation’s skills ministers on Wednesday, Mr Henskens agreed a solution was needed immediately, saying the Perrottet government had overseen an “unprecedented” fee-free training program yet businesses were still crying out for workers.

Mr Henskens said he was looking to work with his ministerial counterparts to resolve the “handbrake” on the economy but asserted the only way to fix the labour shortage was an increase in targeted skilled migration.

“There is no shortage of opportunities to get skilled, upskill or reskill in NSW, but there is a crippling shortage of people to fill vacant jobs,” he said.

“Businesses are screaming out for workers and only a significant acceleration of skilled migration will ease pressure in industries like hospitality, healthcare and traditional trades. When it comes to the labour shortage, we need the commonwealth’s help to unlock skilled migration and allow businesses to drive our economic recovery from the pandemic.”

With 145,000 job vacancies across the state, Mr Henskens called on the commonwealth to use the “policy levers” available to it to unlock skilled migration.

“This labour shortage is not unique to NSW but it is apparent this can only be fixed by an increase in targeted skilled migration and the commonwealth government holds the policy levers to make that happen,” he said.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics labour force data revealed the unemployment rate in NSW had fallen to record low 3.3 per cent – a 0.7 per cent decline since May.

Mr Henskens’ call was echoed by the West Australian Labor government, which urged the federal government to increase the 2022-23 migration planning figure of 160,000 places set under Scott Morrison.

“We welcome the federal government’s recent efforts to put on more staff to speed up visa processing, but we’ve also made the point that we want WA’s State Nominated Migration Program allocation increased,” a WA government spokesman said.

“The additional Permanent Migration allocation would help address the acute challenges we are facing, enabling the WA economy to continue its incredibly strong performance throughout the course of the pandemic.”

The severity of the labour crunch facing NSW was highlighted in the 2022 Workforce Skills Survey report by Business NSW. Of 644 businesses surveyed, 93 per cent reported experiencing a skills shortage – a near 40 per cent leap since 2019.

Almost three-quarters of businesses surveyed said they had tried to fill vacancies three times or more in the past 12 months. More than half reported that staff shortages were causing “significant negative impacts” to their business, such as losing customers and missing opportunities.

With the report highlighting the pain was shared equally across every industry and every region, Mr Hunter said staff shortages was the “number one issue” confronting businesses “from Bourke to Bega” and across the breadth of the state economy.

“Governments across the nation are investing in our homegrown skills pipeline and we know that will pay off in the long run. But we need action right now, this cannot wait until the Prime Minister’s Skills Summit in September. We are calling on the federal government to clear the backlog of visa applications, provide automatic extensions for temporary visa holders, encourage international students back … and re-establish Australia as the best place for skilled workers to come and make a contribution.”