Australia has a shortage of yoga instructors, dog handlers and martial arts instructors, according to the list of professions eligible for the new Skills in Demand Visa, which replaces the Temporary Skills Shortage Visa later this year.
The program is intended to fill skills gaps in the Australian economy. But even though we are facing a housing crisis and a crippling construction worker shortage – painters, bricklayers, roof tilers, stonemason and other tradespeople are not on the visa list.
A spokesperson for the government told news.com.au that the decision to not list tradies on the skills list was mostly a bureaucratic one, and was influenced by a history of migrant abuse in the sector.
But Denita Wawn, CEO of the Master Builders Association, says there are now rules in place to prevent the kind of exploitation seen previously and that Australia should not be turning help away.
“To suggest that every plumber, brickie or carpenter wanting to enter Australia should be turned away and all employers are exploiting workers is outrageous,” she says.
Do you think we should be allowing more tradespeople in? What about yoga instructors?
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