Home > Our Publications > Australian Outlook> 2005 > Septemeber

SKILLED MIGRANTS NEEDED

A HIGH-POWERED multi-million dollar campaign to attract 20,000 skilled migrants will be held world-wide by the Australian Government.

Australia's booming economy and a huge increase in trade with China has left local industry facing a huge backlog of work and a desperate shortage of all types of skilled workers.

Engineers, tradespeople and doctors top the list of skills shortages.

Roadshows will be held in London, Amsterdam and Berlin plus Asia.

The Immigration Department plans to advertise in overseas newspapers from September, inviting prospective skilled migrants to meet employers and State and Federal government representatives at the series of expos as part of a $3 million skills roadshow where officials will present options for migration under recently relaxed regulations.

Department acting deputy secretary Abul Rizvi said: "If you think about what we did in the 1950s and the impact that had on Australia, well we're doing it again."

But this time the Government hopes to tailor the campaign to meet specific labour shortages.

The department is considering hosting a further round of expos in 2006 in Bangkok, Seoul, Los Angeles and Manila.

The Queensland, South Australian, Western Australian and Canberra governments have expressed the most interest in participating, with Victoria also publicising the events.

The campaign follows an announcement by the Government earlier this year that skilled migration places in 2005-06 would be increased by 20,000, to combat Australia's skills shortages.

The 20,000-place increase is the biggest jump in the migration quota since the 1970s, with the Government offering migrants four-year employer or State-sponsored migration, with the option to stay on permanently.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry will seize the opportunity.

"This is a good move because it's finally coordinating this sort of activity across a range of industry bodies and (state and federal) governments too," the chamber's director of education and training, Steve Balzary, said.

"We're going out to companies right now across our membership to get them to identify not only which companies are going, but which occupations they're looking for and which numbers."

Matching skills and employers on the spot was part of the attraction of the department's overseas posts.

"Particularly in places like Chennai, where you get a lot of interest but don't necessarily get the right skills, the Government is helping us get the message out," Mr Balzary said,

Recruitment events in London will take place in September, while Amsterdam, Berlin and Chennai will host expos in October.