Skills Shortages
Builders question relevance of backpackers to labour shortage
Tuesday 01 July 2008
Builders are questioning how effective a new initiative to extend working visas for tourists will assist alleviating the industry’s labour shortages.
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Senator Chris Evans today announced working holiday visa holders who have worked in the construction industry in regional Australia for at least three months will be eligible to apply for a second working holiday visa.
"Extending this concession to construction will help this booming industry by encouraging people on working holidays to undertake short-term construction work in regional Australia," says Evans.
A spokesperson for Master Builders Australia says they expect the initiative will have a "very minimal impact" on the sector, with the real shortage in skilled labour as opposed to general labourers.
"We support any initiatives that will help the skills shortage, but the trouble is these people are not skilled, they’re just labour and other industries will pick them up," the spokesperson says.
Until now, second working holiday visas have only been available to those who have worked for a primary producer in regional Australia for at least three months.
The Government estimates almost 12 000 second working visas were granted in 2007-08.
Horticulture representative Growcom says they do not see the initiative eating into the industry’s casual labour base, with CEO Jan Davis pointing to the physical differences often displayed by backpackers working in the agricultural sector.
"We get a lot of young tourists, many of whom are female [as well as] older travellers, who wouldn’t be physically appropriate to work in the building industry," she says.
"There’s only a small overlap and I don’t think it’s going to be significant because people who want to work in the building industries, which are mainly based in the cities, are not the sort of people who will want to work regionally on farms."
"Nurse managers are being very creative in filling vacancies, but we have to be very careful that the skill mix is still appropriate."
Ms Norman said she hoped to see incentives to entice nurses who have left the system back to hospitals.
"I’m not sure exactly what can be done, but possibly offering an experienced nurse rate, which (is the plan) the association is hoping to take to the Industrial Relations Commission," she said.
She said increased workloads and staffing shortages could have a follow-on effect, as nurses left due to increasing workloads.
This would in turn increase the pressure on remaining staff, Ms Norman said.
"There has to be some incentive for them," she said.
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