Restaurant & Catering Australia petitions Albanese government for skilled worker reform
Severe labour shortages continue to hurt small businesses, leading them to call for a boost to lower-skilled visas.
Hospitality has been one of the hardest hit industries, with many in the industry fearing they could be shut out of the skilled migration system.
In a ray of light, NSW Treasurer Matt Kean has called for a new visa category targeting lower-skilled occupations and allowing for a wider pool of workers to mitigate against the 304,000-worker shortfall NSW is facing in by 2025-26.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will work with NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and other state governments on fixing he skills shortage.
However, visas may not be on the table.
“We recognise that the immediate skills shortages need to be dealt with and we will be dealing with those constructively,” Albanese said reiterating that migration is only one part of the solution.
Restaurant & Catering Australia (R&CA) chief executive Belinda Clark has backed lower-skilled visas.
“Any practical reform to the way migration works for highly-skilled and low-skilled workers in this country is a good thing,” Clark said.
“The hospitality industry is crying out for staff from both local workforces and abroad.
“We are concerned that our industry will miss out unless we are put on priority lists.”
The R&CA has petitioned the Albanese government with more than 2000 hospitality venues calling for “extensive and swift reform”.
Nine priorities were laid out in the petition including:
- adding restaurant managers and cooks to the occupation lists for temporary skilled visas
- enforcing faster processing of visas so that 50 per cent of applications are done in two months
- scrapping or freezing application fees.
“Every restaurant and cafe has a sign in their window offering full-time or part-time work,” Clark said.
“Our industry needs the government to act now. We welcome any reform that will get chefs in the kitchen, wait staff serving great meals and restaurants managers doing what they do best.”
The sentiment has been backed by the Australian Chamber of Commerce, with chief executive Andrew McKellar saying that “all options need to be up for consideration when it comes to addressing the crippling staff shortages that are holding back business and holding back the economy”.
“Working holidaymakers and international students are an important source of lower skilled workers for small businesses,” McKellar said.
“With international arrivals at just a fraction of their pre-pandemic levels, boosting numbers in these visa categories should be the first priority.”
Irit Jackson, 23rd August 2022
