There is no doubt there is a major skills shortage in Australia and it does not seem to be getting better. The effects of the pandemic matched with a drain of Australian skills overseas, now the borders are opening causing significant issues for the Australian economy.

The Federal Government recently held a jobs and skills summit to address this issue but time will tell if it actually does anything to address the critical shortage the agricultural, hospitality and mining sectors are facing. In fact, nearly all sectors in the economy are suffering some level of skills shortage.

In August 2022, the Prime Minister announced the following ten jobs as the most critical over the next five years:

• Age and disability carers
• Chefs
• Child carers
• Civil engineering professionals
• Construction managers
• Early childhood teachers
• Electricians
• ICT (information and communications technology)
• Registered nurses
• Software and applications programmers

The Federal Government also announced a list of occupations post COVID-19 to aid Australia’s recovery. People who apply under these occupational categories will have their visas fast tracked and it is likely more occupations will be added over time. The occupations on the Priority Skilled Migration List are:

• Chief Executive or Managing Director (111111)
• Construction Project Manager (133111)
• Accountant (General) (221111)
• Management Accountant (221112)
• Taxation Accountant (221113)
• External Auditor (221213)
• Internal Auditor (221214)
• Surveyor (232212)
• Cartographer (232213)
• Other Spatial Scientist (232214)
• Civil Engineer (233211)
• Geotechnical Engineer (233212)
• Structural Engineer (233214)
• Transport Engineer (233215)
• Electrical Engineer (233311)
• Mechanical Engineer (233512)
• Mining Engineer (excluding Petroleum) (233611)
• Petroleum Engineer (233612)
• Medical Laboratory Scientist (234611)
• Veterinarian (234711)
• Hospital Pharmacist (251511)
• Industrial Pharmacist (251512)
• Retail Pharmacist (251513)
• Orthotist or Prosthetist (251912)
• General Practitioner (253111)
• Resident Medical Officer (253112)
• Psychiatrist (253411)
• Medical Practitioners nec (253999)
• Midwife (254111)
• Registered Nurse (Aged Care) (254412)
• Registered Nurse (Critical Care and Emergency) (254415)
• Registered Nurse (Medical) (254418)
• Registered Nurse (Mental Health) (254422)
• Registered Nurse (Perioperative) (254423)
• Registered Nurses nec (254499)
• Multimedia Specialist (261211)
• Analyst Programmer (261311)
• Developer Programmer (261312)
• Software Engineer (261313)
• Software and Applications Programmers nec (261399)
• ICT Security Specialist (262112)
• Social Worker (272511)
• Maintenance Planner (312911)
• Chef (351311)

It is also important to remember there are over two hundred occupations listed on the Skilled Migration list. Many specialist occupations have low ceilings and there are good chances of your application being successful if there are low numbers of applications and you have good skills and qualifications to match the criteria.

How can FC Lawyers help?

The FC Lawyers team of accredited specialists and experts in migration law have assisted hundreds of applicants to make the move to Australia.

Contact us to discuss your Australian visa application.