US workers to fill skills gap in mining and construction

The Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research, Senator Chris Evans, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen MP, and the United States Ambassador to Australia, Jeffrey Bleich, have announced measures to assist linking Australian employers with skilled workers in the US to fill skill shortages in key sectors, particularly resources.

These measures will allow workers from the US in licensed occupations, such as electricians and plumbers, to be granted immediate access to provisional Australian licences on arrival. More broadly, the skills assessment process will assure Australian employers how the skills of US workers align with their needs.

"While the government's first priority is to train Australians for jobs in the resources and construction sectors, projections show that we will need workers from overseas for a peak in activity in the next three to five years," Senator Evans said.

Applications are expected to open from mid-April.

Currently, skilled US workers need to be assessed onshore, which can mean waiting months between entry and starting work. Under the new skills assessment process, US workers will be assessed against Australian regulatory requirements before entering Australia, providing certainty to applicants and employers.

Such assessments are available in other countries and it is only logical that we extend them to the US given their potential supply of workers and the interest of Australian employers.

To support employers in linking with potential skilled workers, Minister Bowen said the Australian Government had also decided to run its overseas program of Skills Australia Needs expos in the United States for the first time to attract skilled workers in the resources, energy and infrastructure sectors.

Industry bodies such as EE-Oz Training Standards, Australian Industry Group, Business Council of Australia, American Chamber of Commerce in Australia and US Chamber of Commerce welcomed the announcement.

However, the ACTU urged that skills shortage claims must be independently investigated before Aussie jobs offshored. "Australian workers across the nation deserve the opportunity to benefit from the resources boom, which will provide a massive jobs boon in coming years," said ACTU President Ged Kearney.

"While resources states such as Western Australia have very low unemployment, workers across the rest of the country are facing increasing rates of insecure work. In fact, the latest ABS figures show that employment in the construction industry is actually falling."