Relief is on the horizon for businesses right across North Queensland, with Townsville Enterprise submitting a proposal for a Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA) to the federal government, to help address the severe skills shortages that have been stifling economic growth and business activity in the region.
A DAMA is a formal agreement between the Australian Government and a regional economic body such as Townsville Enterprise. It provides business owners who have exhausted local recruitment options access to overseas workers, providing a flexibility and responsiveness not available through the standard skilled migration programs.
DAMAs are tailored to a region’s unique economic and labour market conditions, and as with all skilled migration schemes they are only accessible if employers can demonstrate skills shortages and have given priority to Australian jobseekers first.
The North Queensland economy has boomed in recent years, and the region is enjoying the fruits of this growth with near full employment and jobs available in every sector, from tourism and hospitality to professional services, to mining and agriculture.
Townville Enterprise CEO Claudia Brumme-Smith said that while the future was bright for North Queensland with significant growth forecast to continue across all sectors of the economy, securing the workforce to support this growth was a critical challenge that needed to be addressed.
“Our region is on track to create tens of thousands new jobs over the next decade, and once domestic population movements and organic growth are accounted for, we still see tens of thousands of roles that will need bodies to fill them.
“In our recent Business Survey, 70% of our members advised that severe skill shortage in the short, medium and long-term is the single biggest worry for their business success. Securing the DAMA for North Queensland means we can bring up to 1000 workforce participants into the region each year over the next five years to satisfy some of this demand and ensure that North Queensland continues to grow and thrive into the next decade.”
“Naturally the DAMA requires that local workers are prioritised, but it recognises the simple truth that there are already more jobs than people in the region.”
“As the peak economic development body, we see that while this is a problem, this is a good problem to have and we are excited to be able to bring the DAMA to the table to support the North Queensland business community.”
Member for Herbert Phillip Thompson MP said that the Government recognised the need for urgent action on skills shortages across regional Australia.
“We’ve invested heavily in Northern Australia, and we recognise how important it is to continue to drive that growth and development,” Mr Thompson said.
“We’re going to need more people to fill the roles that are being created, and I’ll support anything that means that businesses can access people to fill the roles that would otherwise be left vacant.”
North Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils Chair and Burdekin Shire Council Mayor Cr Lyn McLaughlin said that the submission had been developed with inputs from Burdekin, Hinchinbrook, Charters Towers and Townsville, and that the economically diverse nature of the region would be well served by the DAMA.
“We are an industrious and highly employed region, driving the prosperity of Northern Australia and the nation, and the reality is we are facing a sustained period of growth over the next 10 years,” Cr McLaughlin said.
“As it stands, we’ve created 6000 new roles in the region over the last year, and we currently have 3000 vacancies outstanding.
“Filling these roles with people coming into our region doesn’t just satisfy the business requirements; it also grows our cities and towns. Workers have families, who attend schools, join clubs and associations, and become a part of our communities.”
“They use services, go to cafes, restaurants and take holidays, and our region grows and becomes stronger.”
“The North Queensland DAMA will be a skilled migration program that is tailored to the needs of our North Queensland region,” Cr McLaughlin said.
