Activate Australia's Skills Campaign

22 October 2024

I once again address a pressing issue affecting thousands of highly skilled workers—engineers, healthcare professionals, IT experts, architects and educators—ready to contribute their invaluable knowledge and experience but prevented from doing so by outdated regulations and systemic barriers. The result is a missed opportunity for those skilled workers and Australia's economy, particularly in New South Wales. The Activate Australia's Skills campaign was launched earlier this month by an alliance of more than 50 business groups, unions and community organisations seeking to tackle the issue by improving national skills and qualifications recognition.

Research shows that 44 per cent of skilled migrants are working beneath their skill level, while one‑third of all Australian occupations face shortages. Additionally, 90 per cent of business leaders are concerned about the impact of skills shortages on their industries. We are losing an estimated $70 billion a year in economic activity due to the underutilisation of those workers. A significant barrier those skilled migrants face is the recognition of their overseas qualifications. Many are trained and experienced professionals, but they are forced to undergo a costly, complex and lengthy requalification process, often leaving them in jobs that do not reflect their expertise. That must change.

The Activate Australia's Skills campaign makes several recommendations with the aim of creating a streamlined and simplified national skills recognition system that ensures qualifications are recognised consistently across Australia. It calls for a unified national governance system to oversee the recognition of overseas qualifications. That includes the establishment of an ombudsman with regulatory power to provide independent oversight and transparency, to ensure that the system operates fairly and efficiently. Currently the process is fragmented, with different rules and regulations in each State. The campaign also calls for the establishment of a multilingual online one-stop-shop portal. The portal would further simplify the currently fragmented process and serve as a comprehensive guide for navigating the skills assessment, qualification recognition and occupational licensing processes.

The campaign's proposals would enable skilled migrants to transition smoothly into their qualified professions. It would also prevent unnecessary delays and costs, which will help both migrants and the industries that need their skills. A recent report released by the Federal Joint Standing Committee on Migration entitledMigration, Pathway to Nation Building recognises those challenges and makes several recommendations consistent with the Activate Australia's Skills campaign. Recommendation 39 of the joint standing committee suggests that we establish mutual recognition agreements with countries that share similar standards to Australia. By partnering with those countries, we can ensure that skilled migrants from nations with comparable qualifications can transition seamlessly into our workforce and thus eliminate unnecessary requalification requirements.

All of that seems relatively straightforward for those arriving through skilled migration channels. However, we know that migrants with highly sought after skills and qualifications also come to this country via humanitarian programs as refugees. Many refugees arrive here with little more than the clothes on their backs. They are highly traumatised, having fled persecution, war and conflict. The ability to prove their skills and qualifications is often difficult if not impossible. No records exist or, if they do, they sit with governments that may range from uncooperative to outright hostile. Thankfully, we can look to successful international examples. The Joint Standing Committee on Migration report notes that processes in Germany may offer an appropriate model. One of the submissions to the inquiry was made by the Australian Migrant Resource Centre. It noted:

In Germany between 2015 and 2018 around 8,475 Syrian vocational qualifications were recognized, as well as over 1,400 qualifications from Iran and over 800 qualifications from Iraq. The most common are … in the field of health professions (doctor, nurse, dentist).

Our State, like much of Australia, faces labour shortages in those very sectors. But not only can we fill those critical gaps across health care, construction, education and technology; we can also help thousands of workers move from unemployment and underemployment. The shortages are impacting our ability to provide essential services and complete vital infrastructure projects. We do not need to look overseas for the talent we need. The talent is already here, living in our communities. It is a win‑win for both New South Wales and its residents. It is not just an economic issue but also a question of fairness, inclusivity and common sense. Migrants bring with them valuable skills that we desperately need, but we are blocking them from making the contributions they are capable of. It is time to change that. The economic benefits will speak for themselves but, more importantly, we will be recognising the value and dignity of every individual who comes to Australia seeking a better life.