Australia’s economy is flying blind and losing an incredible $9 billion annually. This is mostly the result of an acute skills mismatch among its migrant workers. Activate Australia’s Skills is a vibrant national campaign uniting businesses, unions, social services, and community organizations. It zealously lobbies for a new, all-encompassing policy that would equitably acknowledge skills and qualifications, working to address this pressing crisis.
The campaign brings attention to the fact that almost half (almost 47%) of migrant engineers are unemployed and seeking work in their specialism. Dane Moores, head of strategic relations at Settlement Services International, is on fire these days about a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He argues that we need to act now to make the best use of migrants skills.
Worryingly, Moores points out that over half a million permanent migrants in Australia are working at a skill level lower than they hold. Australian government figures support this assertion. He clarifies, “That is – above all – what we refer to as the migrant skills mismatch. Our nation’s shortages of workforce past, present and future wields a heavy hand on all sectors’ productivity and deepens the economic tumult our nation is feeling now.
To make the system work better, Activate Australia’s Skills has made a range of recommendations to make skills recognition process more efficient. The most far-ranging proposal is to establish an online portal. This new portal will help migrants navigate and access important information on how to have their skills, knowledge and qualifications recognized. This new effort would go a long way in combating the hurdles most migrants encounter such as exorbitant costs, bureaucratic delays, and lengthy procedures.
“Thousands of people are being needlessly locked out from filling skills shortages due to barriers unrelated to their skills: excessive fees, bureaucratic red tape, and slow and confusing processes throughout the skills recognition system.” – Dane Moores
Forward our campaign to key decision-makers — together we can make this happen! Too often, they are lacking the resources to pay for the skills recognition journey. Moores calls for direct government intervention to address these financial barriers and expand access to a world of opportunity for qualified, passionate professionals.
All of this underpinned a new cross-sectoral coalition, as thirty leaders from business, unions and civil society convened in Canberra. Collectively, they fired up wonderful discussions about Australia’s economic future. Especially their attention to the critical and pervasive workforce shortages crippling economic development across the country. The coalition was united in their overwhelming belief that systemic change is needed. Together, these reforms will enable skilled migrants to be better integrated into the Australian labor market.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) joined the chorus. They claimed that the status quo of skill assessment processes is cost prohibitive, complicated and non-transparent thereby denying migrant workers the ability to freely access the labor market. This underscores the importance of reforming current systems to ensure that skilled migrants are treated fairly.
Engineers Australia chief executive Romilly Madew welcomed moves to clarify skills recognition but warned that any solutions need to be tailored to each profession. He noted that acceptance of foreign qualifications is only part of the roadblock. The actual challenge is finding national consensus and uniformity among all 50 states and territories, illuminating the distribution of these multifaceted larger subject matters.
