Jobs In Demand: Australia's New Skilled Migration List Sparks Mixed Reactions From Industry Groups

The Australian government has released a new list of occupations eligible for temporary skilled migration, sparking mixed reactions from industry groups.

The Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL), published earlier this month, includes 456 jobs across various sectors such as construction, agriculture, cybersecurity, health, and education. Some of the listed occupations included carpenters, bricklayers, psychologists, private tutors, software engineers, bakers, and beauty therapists, reported SBS News.

Other roles included on the CSOL were stonemasons, joiners, painters, floor finishers, and electricians. The list was created based on labor market analysis and consultations by Jobs and Skills Australia.

The government aims to attract skilled migrants to fill roles in industries facing worker shortages, hoping to boost the economy.

"The government is determined to tackle the skills shortage, especially in the construction sector," Immigration Minister Tony Burke stated. "This is an important step to attract qualified workers to help build more homes."

This list will be used for the Core Skills stream of the new Skills in Demand visa, which replaces the Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visa. It will also apply to the Direct Entry stream of the permanent Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) visa.

Missing roles on the migration list

While the Business Council of Australia welcomed the CSOL, seeing it as a way to address the nation's skills shortages, some groups expressed concerns.

CEO Bran Black said addressing the skills crisis requires proper training for Australian workers and migration policies to fill workforce gaps.

"We always want to see Australians obtain the right skills to access job opportunities in growing and new sectors but right now we have significant workforce shortages and the changes announced today will help fill gaps," Black said.

Master Builders Australia, however, pointed out that key machinery operator roles were missing. The group had criticized a draft list of priority skills earlier this year for not including enough trades, especially as Australia faced a housing shortage.

Mike Zorbas, CEO of the Property Council, believes the new list and more TAFE training will help address the construction industry's skills shortage.

Restaurant & Catering Australia, the main group for Australia's hospitality industry, also voiced concern about leaving out important hospitality staff from the list.