Additional resources are being drafted in to help Australian Immigration Officials clear a backlog of around 457 visa applications. Due to the reported skills shortage currently being experienced in Australia, Officials have been given the deadline of June 30th in order to process the delayed skilled migrant’s visas.
The well documented skills shortages are of particularly concern in the retail, catering and accommodation sectors. The government hopes that the additional measures and manpower which is being introduced will aid these sectors in finding suitable employees.
“Australia urgently needs to clear the backlog of visas in order to ease the shortage of skilled workers. It is important to remember that they are also facing strong competition for workers from other labour hungry countries, such as New Zealand and Canada†Says Liam Clifford of www.globalvisas.com
Other sectors which are suffering from the backlog and shortages are infrastructure, mining and the major concern tourism.
Due to the tourism sector consisting or predominately young workers the industry hopes that an influx of overseas workers will help equip it for future growth. The amount of home-grown employees available to such businesses is rapidly shrinking thanks to an ageing Australian population.
It is essential for the country to not only attract temporary workers but to also encourage permanent migration in order to secure the long-term demand for labour.
It has even been suggested by the ERG (External reference group), a group set up by the minister for Citizenship and Immigration, that a possible solution for solving the labour shortage may be to create fast track applications.
Such a measure would derive from the set up of an accreditation system which would speed up visa processes for employees which are considered low risk.
The principal visa at present allows businesses to employ staff from overseas for a time span of between three months and four years.
General Skilled Migration to Australia offers applicants the opportunity to migrate to Australia on the basis of their skills and/or educational background. It targets people who are highly skilled and who will quickly make a contribution to the economy. A point’s based system is currently used in order to access skilled migrants’ eligibility.
Following the passing of the 30th June deadline an additional plan is in place to create a number of specialised teams and Centres of Excellence which will process applications from July forwards. These centres are scheduled for opening in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
