Could the future skills list be the answer to many category five applicants' prayers?
So what has happened to the Australian Future Skills List that we were promised back in December? As Australian visa applicants drum their fingers impatiently, waiting for news on the FSL we take a look at what could have gone wrong.
The Critical Skills List (CSL) was introduced back in January 2009 in order to prioritise those applications with occupations that were desperately needed to fill the skills shortages Australia was experiencing at the time.
The CSL was meant to update the rather outdated MODL and closely represent real skill shortages all over Australia. If you had a skill that was in the MODL you still had a strong application, but if your skill was in the CSL it meant that your application would be processed a lot quicker.
The CSL was meant to work in harmony with the Australian states own critical skills list, however some of their skilled occupations in demand are not on the CSL. For instance Western Australia has included Production Manager on their skills in demand list and have even noted: “The shortage appears to be most severe for mining production managers with underground hard rock experience relevant to the Australian mining industry.” Yet the Critical Skills List does not list Production Manager as an occupation in demand.
At the time of the CSL’s introduction however, Senator Chris Evans, the Minister for Australian Immigration and Citizenship, reassured applicants that the CSL does indeed work closely with the state governments: “The Critical Skills List will be reviewed regularly, in consultation with the States and Territories, industry and unions to ensure that it remains valid and current in the changing circumstances.”
Then came September 23rd and new regulations for priority processing which meant that if you had managed to get state-sponsorship but did not have an occupation on the Australian Government’s CSL, your visa application would not receive priority. That means that Western Australia would have to wait for its Production Managers. Rather a monumental mistake by the government surely, since Western Australia is currently going through a mining boom. The wait would not be a short one either as applicants were told by the DIAC that their visa applications might not now be finalised for up to three years.
The Future Skills List is proposed to reflect more accurately the skills that are in severe demand, much as the CSL was meant to do. The government may use it in an attempt to ‘save face’, thereby ensuring that state skills in demand are included on the FSL, or they may not. It’s difficult to tell without more information. However the FSL is intended to replace both the MODL and the CSL, the latter being phased out slowly.
But where, you may ask, is this Future Skills List? The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) had stated that it expected to announce the FSL back in December. But there was no word from the DIAC about it. Now we are into January and all across the internet, Australian migration forums such as Poms in Oz and our very own Embrace Community are echoing with the same question – where is it?
Susan Wareham McGrath a migration agent and member of the Embrace Australia community has this to say on the subject of the missing FSL: “DIAC originally intended to announce the results of the MODL Review in December 2009 after it had gone to Parliament. It wasn’t able to meet that timeframe and Parliament will next sit between 2 and 11 February. Hopefully, things will progress soon after that, but it depends on the Order of Business during the sitting. If it doesn’t make it during the February sitting, Parliaments next sitting will be 9 – 18 March.”
“Unfortunately, all we can do at this stage is “watch this space” and keep an eye on the daily Order of Business and Hansard between 2 – 11 February.”
So there you go, hopefully all will be revealed this month and speculation about the occupations that will appear on the FSL will be put to rest. No doubt many Category 5 applicants will be hoping that the government have taken notice of the skills shortages in many regional states of Australia and that the FSL accurately reflects these shortages. If not then it’s back to the drawing board for many frustrated Australia visa applicants.
What are your opinions on the delayed announcement of the FSL? Do you think the FSL will make any difference to the fate of category 5 applicants? Let us know your thoughts by posting them in the comments box below and don’t forget to bookmark this page for all the latest Australian immigration news updates. If you want to chat to people in similar situations then join our Australian forum and have a banter, debate and general chinwag with our friendly community members.
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4 Responses to “Aussie Visa Applicants Ask – What Happened to the FSL?”
Comment by Susan Wareham McGrath — February 2, 2010 @ 12:11 am
Hi Lisa
Thank you for an excellent article.
Regardless of DIAC’s bleatings to the contrary, the CSL does NOT reflect skills shortages.
I recently wrote to the Min, raising concerns about the discrepancy between the two (with examples to support my claims). The standard Minsterial response I received back “assured” me that the CSL did reflect the workforce situation around Australia.
What a load of cobblers!
I threw the letter out.
Re Cat 5 applicants, my thuoghts are that Australia’s recovery from the the global financial downturn will be the main driver of DIAC’s future direction re general skilled migration.
Skills shortages have become evident around Australia already, in many industries, professions and trades; and there are strong indications this trend will grow.
This has already led to many powerful groups, industries and businesses leaders lobbying the Rudd Govt heavily to address current and future skills shortages, predominantly in WA at the moment.
However, as workers move from the Eastern states to take advantage of the higher salaries and better conditions WA employers will have to offer to entice them to relocate, employers and industry groups in other states will also actively work towards changing Govt workforce policy.
As one obvious contributing factor to addrses a skills shortage is to increase skilled migration, I think that sooner or later DIAC will have to wake up and develop a skilled migration strategy that REALLY addresses state and employer needs.
Best regards
Susan
Best
Comment by Migration Agent Australia — February 2, 2010 @ 9:36 am
Hi Sushan Wareham,
Can you please explain your point “I think that sooner or later DIAC will have to wake up and develop a skilled migration strategy that REALLY addresses state and employer needs.” in detail.
Comment by Suzan G — February 2, 2010 @ 9:46 am
When you use the phrase “labor shortage” or “skills shortage” you’re speaking in a sentence fragment. What you actually mean to say is: “There is a labor shortage at the salary level I’m willing to pay.” That statement is the correct phrase; the complete sentence and the intellectually honest statement.
Some people speak about shortages as though they represent some absolute, readily identifiable lack of desirable services. Price is rarely accorded its proper importance in their discussion.
If you start raising wages and improving working conditions, and continue doing so, you’ll solve your shortage and will have people lining up around the block to work for you even if you need to have huge piles of steaming manure hand-scooped on a blazing summer afternoon.
And if you think there’s going to be a shortage caused by employees retiring out of the workforce: Guess again: With the majority of retirement accounts down about 50% or more, most people entering retirement age are working well into their sunset years. So, you won’t be getting a worker shortage anytime soon due to retirees exiting the workforce.
Some specialized jobs require training and/or certification, again, the solution is higher wages and improved benefits. People will self-fund their re-education so that they can enter the industry in a work-ready state. The attractive wages, working conditions and career prospects of technology during the 1980’s and 1990’s was a prime example of people’s willingness to self-fund their own career re-education.
There is never enough of any good or service to satisfy all wants or desires. A buyer, or employer, must give up something to get something. They must pay the market price and forego whatever else he could have for the same price. The forces of supply and demand determine these prices — and the price of a skilled workman is no exception. The buyer can take it or leave it. However, those who choose to leave it (because of lack of funds or personal preference) must not cry shortage. The good is available at the market price. All goods and services are scarce, but scarcity and shortages are by no means synonymous. Scarcity is a regrettable and unavoidable fact.
Shortages are purely a function of price. The only way in which a shortage has existed, or ever will exist, is in cases where the “going price” has been held below the market-clearing price.
Comment by tar_villa — February 3, 2010 @ 4:19 pm
OZ immigration is working like an old man of 80s carrying a whole lot of 40 kgs on his back…. is not even able to walk few yards… huh!!!