The Federal Government may be preparing to bring in tens of thousands more skilled workers to fill gaps in Australian workforces, including aged care.

While the figures are yet to be confirmed by the Government, the Sun Herald newspaper reported over the weekend that the annual migration intake could be raised from 160,000 people to between 180,000 and 200,000.

The number of skilled migrants is generally 70% of the overall figure, meaning as many as 140,000 new skilled workers could boost the aged care, education, health and other workforces.

Minister for Skills and Training, Brendan O’Connor, told Nine changes could be made to enable migrant workers to start working in their field earlier, rather than needing to complete a full Australian degree or qualification.

However, he stressed standards wouldn’t be dropped for workers joining aged care in particular.

“We need to be serious about the integrity of people’s capabilities,” Minister O’Connor said.

“When we’re talking about jobs that will be looking after people in care, we have to be extra careful, frankly.”

Last month, the Government confirmed it would be prioritising permanent visa applications from skilled foreign workers to address workforce shortages in the aged care sector.

Minister O’Connor said it was important that skilled migrants were not the only option the Government looked at to address workforce issues, and that there would also be a focus on training the local industry and the broader issues.

“We’ve got a big job ahead to address the skills crisis but Labor will do more to train the local workforce and crack down on the exploitation of foreign workers,” he said. 

“We will support new energy jobs, get more women into work and reverse the decline in apprenticeship completion rates.”

Increasing the number of migrants allowed into the country is set to be a big topic of conversation at the Government’s jobs summit in a few weeks.

The summit will be attended by businesses, unions and political leaders and held in Canberra on September 1-2, 2022.

A spokesperson for Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil told the Guardian that Labor would not make a final decision on lifting the cap on the number of migrants until after hearing from unions and businesses at the jobs summit.

The spokesperson did confirm that the Government would “always prioritise jobs for Australians” and that any migration intake would be considered “alongside” local skills and training.

Source: Thousands of migrant workers could boost aged care workforce – Hellocare

The Federal Government has confirmed plans to prioritise 60,000 permanent visa applications lodged by skilled foreign workers in hopes of easing workforce shortages in aged care, education and the broader health sector.

With a current backlog of close to a million visa applications across several categories due to COVID-19 border closures, the Department of Home Affairs will now look to bolster its own workforce to tackle processing delays.

Speaking on ABC Radio yesterday, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil provided listeners with an insight into the visa gridlock.

“The real priority for me is what we can do within the constraints of the system to quickly work through that backlog,” said Minister O’Neil.

“The change is prioritising people who are offshore who are wanting to come here to work and working through those applications as quickly as we can.

“It’s a drop in the ocean when we are talking about a backlog that is close to a million.”

In addition to prioritising skilled worker visa applications that will benefit the sector, the Government has also signalled its intention to prioritise aged care in Canberra next Tuesday when Parliamentary sittings return.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has vowed that the first pieces of legislation to be introduced to parliament will be amendments to the Aged Care Act to boost the nursing workforce and tackle high administration fees, along with a jobs and skills bill.

This will be the first meeting of Parliament since the May Election and those within the sector hope that the renewed focus on aged care will bring some much-needed relief related to the slew of issues currently plaguing the aged care system.

Surge workforce solutions being reconsidered

Outrage regarding aged care workforce shortages has hit a fever pitch in recent weeks as providers with depleted rosters brace themselves for what is expected to be the most significant wave of COVID-19 since January.

The urgency of this issue prompted an emergency meeting between Aged Care Minister Anika Wells and both the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) and the Aged Care Advisory Group yesterday. 

During this meeting, Minister Wells flagged the potential for more Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel to be deployed into aged care homes again to ease pressure on a system that she says has been neglected for years.

“That is not where we should be, that is not where we want our ADF to be, that is not what our country wants for the standard of aged care,” Minister Wells said.

“I am trying to be on the ground talking to and listening to as many people in aged care as possible.”

The latest statistics reveal that 900 aged care homes are being impacted by COVID-19 in Australia.

Earlier this week, Aged and Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) Interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Paul Sadler, told HelloCare that there is currently only 15 ADF personnel assisting aged care services across the country.

This scaling back of ADF support has left many in the industry baffled as the prospect of more COVID-19 outbreaks looms over the coming weeks.

“Let’s call a spade a spade here,” said Minister Wells. 

“There are not enough workers in aged care, shifts are going short every single day. It is a sector in crisis, it is a sector that has been neglected for nine years.”

Source: Government to prioritise foreign worker visas to bolster aged care workforce – Hellocare

Interview with Anna Henderson, SBS World News & the Australian Treasurer The Hon Dr Jim Chalmers MP.

Subjects: Budget, economy, migration, stage three tax cuts

JANICE PETERSEN:

“Returning to our coverage of the Federal Budget now, and the Treasurer says that increasing migration will be central to the nation’s economic success.”

HENDERSON:

“Given we have these labour force shortages at the moment why isn’t your Government putting more focus on immigration as a solution here, because wouldn’t that actually drive down inflation?”

TREASURER CHALMERS:

“I think it’s an important piece of the puzzle. We see migration as a very important part of our economic policy. It’s not a substitute for training more people for more opportunities here as well. It should be complementary and not at odds, and that’s how we see it.”

“The fastest growing area of spending is actually the interest bill on the trillion dollars of debt we’ve inherited. But beyond that, aged care, health care, NDIS and defence, these are all areas we want to invest in, and we want to get a good bang for buck in”

Interview with Anna Henderson, SBS World News | Treasury Ministers