Agriculture businesses continue to experience a workforce shortage across the sector and supply
chain. There is widespread discussion about the difficulties employees are currently experiencing
when looking for people with the right skills to fill labour shortages in their businesses.
At the same time, there is a pool of highly skilled migrants from culturally and linguistically diverse
backgrounds already in Australia that are not currently working in their field of expertise as they are
finding it difficult to find suitable employment.
The Queensland State Government has invested in programs and initiatives to improve the inclusion
of skilled migrants in the workforce; however, we recognise that there are still many challenges and
barriers for employers and prospective migrant employees.
Following the Skilled Migrant Workshop hosted by the Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) in Toowoomba in April 2023, QFF Industry Workforce Advisor, Kym Wessling, has written a paper which includes feedback received through the workshop and explores the benefits of employing skilled migrants already living in Australia.
The paper highlights the barriers and provides insights into opportunities and recommendations for
industry to embrace diversity and utilise the many talented individuals with a migrant background
seeking employment to support the workforce they need.
It also looks at how we can engage and provide awareness to all stakeholders about the significant
contribution skilled migrants can bring to economic growth and jobs growth.
Download the paper here
The paper provides a number of recommendations, including:
- Create opportunities to link employers and migrants.
- Trial a speed dating type event – meeting migrants in local areas and regions.
- Industry Tours for migrants to experience workplaces.
- Create an employer guide for agribusinesses like the ‘Attracting and retaining engineers from
migrant backgrounds – Guide for employers.’ - There needs to be one location that hosts information that all industries, employers, and
migrants can source. Investigate Migration Queensland and what information already sits
within the website. Map any gaps that may be able to sit within Migration Queensland. - Undertake an environmental scan of what programs and initiatives already exist with a view
to having a collaborative approach to apply for a grant for an eLearning system for
multicultural workforce integration, including eLearning modules and digital resources to
help employers build multicultural workforce capability. This would be a state-wide, all
industries-based tool to be available through a website like Business Queensland.