Reports that accountants will be dropped from Australia’s list of skilled occupations for 2015 have been denied.
According to prominent reports in the Australian media, concerns about the number of accountants who cannot find jobs had led to officials wanting to withdraw the occupation from the list of professions that qualify for skilled worker visas.
However, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and CPA Australia have both said that accounting must stay on the list as there is a shortage of accountants.
In a submission to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s review of skilled migration, they argue that instead of moving occupations on and off the list as eligible to apply for migration, a sliding scale reflecting the undersupply or oversupply of skills should be implemented.
This comes at a time where there is a huge debate over the number of overseas students encouraged to study subjects like accounting at Australian universities because of the benefitto the Australian economy. The problem is, many of these students are unable to find jobs when they graduate.
Indeed, a recent study from Deakin University described international students as a ‘crucial cash cow for universities’. The three year study concluded that international graduates find it extremely difficult to get professional work in Australia, despite having qualifications in areas of supposed skills shortages.
It singled out accounting, nursing and engineering graduates as encountering multiple barriers to getting a job, including a tough jobs market and local firms unwilling to take on staff without permanent residency.
The Deakin University report, Australian International Graduates and the Transition to Employment, also says that international graduates without a permanent visa are unlikely to find work in their discipline area in Australia.