Brain drain, brain gain: accessing the required skills: report prepared for the Minerals Council of Australia

This report assesses the role played by overseas migrants in the mining industry over the past decade and the potential under the existing permanent and temporary entry visa subclasses for migration to contribute to current skill shortages in the industry. The study examined recent arrival and visa-issued data in order to assess the extent to which persons with mining-specific skills have entered Australia since 2001 and, if so, in what visa categories. The conclusion was that relatively few such skills were being attracted under the General Skill Migration (GSM) categories and that there has been little increase in the numbers over the last few years. In the case of the semi-skilled occupations, it is largely because persons in these fields are not eligible. The report concludes that it is unlikely that any further expansion in the GSM will contribute much to the mining industry because the skill spread under the visas is focussed around professions and trades other than those specific to mining and because most of those attracted settle in Australia’s major metropolitan areas. This conclusion also applied to the permanent-entry employment nomination and the various state-specific and regional permanent-entry visas, including the State/Territory Nominated Independent (STNI), Skilled Independent Regional (SIR) and Skilled Designated Area Sponsored (SDAS) visa subclasses. The STNI and SIR involve state government sponsorship. Of the two largest, the STNI allows those sponsored to settle anywhere in the sponsoring state and the SDAS allows those sponsored by Melbourne relatives to live in Melbourne. The net effect of permanent and long-term temporary movements in the mining industry occupations, including movements of Australian residents, is a modest brain gain for Australia. Recent experience suggests that the mining industry is making greater use of temporary-entry sponsorship provisions. However, the analysis of the visa subclasses which can be used for such sponsorships indicates that they do satisfactorily serve mining industry needs. The 457 business long stay visa is working well for firms wishing to sponsor highly skilled managerial and professional personnel on temporary contracts, but it is not available for semi-skilled construction or mining workers. One option is the Labour Agreement provision which enables employers to sponsor migrants down to level 7 of the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) under the 457 visa. One condition of this visa is that the employer commits to an associated training program for domestic workers. This is appropriate where the jobs involve ongoing work during the production phase of a mine’s life. Such Agreements are not suited to the construction and set up phase of mining projects where there is no ongoing employment.

Excerpts from executive summary reproduced by permission of the copyright owner. This National Industry Skills Initiative document is copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission.

The Australian Government contracted the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia Inc (CME), in partnership with the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), to conduct a project examining the current and future skills needs of the mining industry. This report is one of three final reports from this project; the other reports are indexed at TD/TNC 87.338 and TD/TNC 89.190. Show less