EMPLOYERS and representatives from the vocational and university education sectors were among those who attended a jobs and skills roundtable held in Pearce.
Pearce MHR Tracey Roberts said the main issues raised at the roundtable centred on productivity, visa and immigration processing, the type of worker visas, ability to compete CVs and job applications and engaging the untapped potential of youth.
Among the attendees at the Pearce roundtable were Harry and Jim Trandos from Trandos Farms, Benara Nurseries general manager Gavin James, Faz Pollard from Adarsh Australia, Peter Green from Glide, Dennis Simmons from Maar Koodjal and Megan Strong from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
North Metro TAFE jobs and skills centre manager Michelle Hoad, Edith Cowan University acting industry relationships manager Arron Jackson, ECU associate dean of management Ben Farr-Wharton, Wanneroo Business Association vice president Kasia Mieczkowski, Shannon Crowe from the City of Wanneroo economic development team, City of Joondalup economic development and advocacy manager Luke Willcock, ECU executive education manager Nickey Ludkins and WBA general manager Lauren Bell also attended.
As did Wanneroo MLA Sabine Winton, Burns Beach MLA Mark Folkard, Harry Gill from the Punjab Community and Mangala Khadpekar.
Mrs Roberts said she held the roundtable to collect honest feedback about issues the attendees had been facing in their sectors.
She wanted the discussion to be wide-ranging and to include what could be done to help.
The key findings:
Productivity
- How is productivity measured across multiple industries?
- For example right now it can be said that it is more productive to be a forklift driver than a specialist in advanced manufacturing.
- Is Australia adapting the way it measures productivity with world-wide changes? (Covid-19)
Visa and immigration processing
- In Indonesia prior to Covid-19 about nine million people embarked on international holidays but only about 13,000 came to WA.
- There is an 18-page document that must be filled out prior to coming to holiday in Australia.
- Getting employees who want to do manual labour
- Indonesia is extremely close to WA – why isn’t WA doing more to encourage workers from countries such as Indonesia
- WA is a great host for unskilled labour
Type of worker visas
- Some employees just want to come to Australia for a couple of years but the benchmarks are too high in terms of English language proficiency and money.
- Industries such as farming rely on overseas employees – some only hire on a part time or permanent basis but most backpackers opt to work casually and leave after a short while – so employers can’t invest in training.
Ability to complete CVs and job applications
- The electorate of Pearce is a multicultural community – some very intelligent people have moved to Pearce but English is not their first language.
- Need help/courses to aid these talented workers to put together a resume.
- Possible solution – TAFE started a migrant education program with more than 600 people participating in English language training.
- This program is great but there is still a need to connect the students to recruitment agencies and industry.
Engaging the untapped potential of youth
- Low socioeconomic First Nations people often come from trauma and need incentives and support
- Most young people don’t have a driver’s licence and no hope of getting one.
- If young people are employed in ongoing work but can’t see a clear pathway to grow then they will defer their attention elsewhere
- Getting these conservations going is important.
Mrs Roberts said the feedback from the roundtable would go to the Prime Minister’s office.
She said not much was said about wages growth at the roundtable as they knew the government was already looking at that issue but was mainly about how businesses had been affected, how to help businesses grow and flourish and sometimes just to survive.
“The government had a good idea what the challenges were but it’s really important to go out there into the community, into the business sector – all the industries – and identify to make sure that we are on the right track and everybody’s on the same page,’’ she said.
In a statement after the national jobs and skills summit the Prime Minister Mr Albanese thanked those who stepped up and spoke up at the summit and the more than 100 roundtables held prior to the summit in communities across the country, for their fresh ideas and open and constructive approach to addressing the nation’s big economic challenges.
“Many of the ideas and suggestions raised will be explored further over the next 12 months as part of the employment white paper, which will further help shape the future of Australia’s labour market,’’ he said.
Mr Albanese said the government would release the terms of reference for the white paper and start accepting submissions later this month.
The national jobs and skills summit outcomes document can be viewed in full at www.treasury.gov.au/employment-whitepaper/jobs-summit
