ALA

Media Release

October 10 2008

Australia’s education effort must keep pace with the demand for skilled workers

Demand for skilled workers continues to grow in the Australian economy. However domestic undergraduate university completions remain static and Australia is relying heavily on skilled migration to meet workforce needs, according to new data released by the Dusseldorp Skills Forum and the Centre for Population and Urban Research at Monash University.

Census figures show that the Australian workforce grew by more than 1.4 million people between 1996 and 2006. Sixty percent of the new jobs created in Australia over that period were for professionals, managers and tradespeople. More than 900,000 additional skilled workers were employed compared to an additional 600,000 in other occupations. 

The strongest areas of job growth over the past decade were in health, education, government administration, property and business services, construction and retailing. All these industries, except construction and retailing have a high propensity to employ university graduates. This is why the employment of professionals has been growing at a faster rate than for other skilled occupations. The weakest sectors for job growth were in communications, agriculture, wholesaling, energy, mining and manufacturing.

However there has been little increase in the number of domestic university graduate to cope with the continuing demand for skilled workers. Completions increased by just 5,000 between 2002 and 2006, while minimal growth occurred in crucial areas such as engineering, science and education.

The director of the CPUR, Dr Bob Birrell said that ‘there was an urgent need for additional university places, both to meet the need of employers and to enhance educational opportunities for young Australians’. He indicated that as of 2006, only 18 per cent of Australian-born persons aged 20-29 and 22 per cent of those aged 30-39 held degree qualifications. By contrast, 37 percent of Australian residents born in non-English-speaking-countries aged 20-29 held degree qualifications and 38 per cent of those aged 30-39.  

The data are contained in a submission to the Review of Australian Higher Education, being conducted for the Commonwealth Government by Prof Denise Bradley. The submission calls for:

· An increase in the number of places for domestic university students given the demand for analytical skills and the substantial number of young people not involved in post school training

· Closer integration of TAFE programs and university courses to improve Australia’s innovation performance, and to cope with the demand for professional and para-professional workers

· Gearing the higher education sector to take advantage of the research and business opportunities created by a carbon-constrained future.

The submission argues that more needs to be done to enable skilled migrants from a Non-English Speaking Background to obtain employment appropriate to their qualification level. While their numbers have increased sharply, Dr Birrell said ‘that they are not been utilized effectively in Australia’s skilled workforce’. Analysis recent Census data showed that only 22 per cent of those aged 20-29 who were born in non-English-speaking countries and held degree qualifications were employed in professional or managerial positions in Australia as of 2006. This group includes most of the former overseas students who gained permanent residence after completing their qualifications in Australia in the five years to 2006.

DSF’s Executive Director, Oona Nielssen, says, “Australia’s education effort must focus on both vocational and university learning – rather than setting these sectors at odds.”

She said, “in a carbon constrained future Australia’s prosperity will rely on the skills and ingenuity of our people, not just our natural resources. The innovation Australia needs will depend on increased public investment in and greater cooperation between universities and the VET sector.”

A full copy of the report can be downloaded at http://www.dsf.org.au/papers/205.htm

Ends.

Contact Oona Nielssen

oona@dsf.org.au

0411 123 815