MARTIN FERGUSON
Minister for Resources and Energy
Minister for Tourism
JOHN RAU
Minister for Justice
Minister for Urban Development, Planning
and the City of Adelaide
Minister for Tourism
Minister for Food Marketing
Federal Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP, and South Australian Minister for Tourism, John Rau MP, today released the Australian Tourism Labour Force Report by Deloitte Access Economics.
The report was commissioned by the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, on behalf of the Skills Working Group as part of the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy to develop tourism and hospitality labour force profiles for the Australian tourism regions for 2010.
“This is the most comprehensive report on the tourism labour force ever produced by this government” said Minister Ferguson.
“It confirms in detail the shortages in labour that have been felt by businesses in all sectors of the tourism industry for some time.
“Nationally we have an estimated 35,800 vacancies in tourism industry jobs and an additional 56,000 people will be needed to fill vacancies by 2015 including 26,000 skilled positions.
“The current vacancies are a result of the recruitment and retention difficulties, as well as the skills deficiencies challenging the tourism industry. The industry has an average employee turnover rate of 64 per cent, a rate that jumps to as high as 118 per cent in the Northern Territory.
“This report highlights ways in which the industry can overcome these labour and skills issues. Some of the suggested solutions include supporting structured career pathways, improved accessibility to training and better integration of Indigenous, mature age and foreign workers.
“The actions already being taken by the Australian Government to address these shortages through programs such as the use of 457 visas, extended student visas and the Pacific Seasonal Workers pilot program are justified by this report, but clearly more work needs to be done.”
South Australian Minister for Tourism, John Rau MP, acknowledged the importance of the Skills Working Group reaching this point in their work program. The report identifies the key issues facing labour and skills in the tourism industry and provides a weight of evidence to inform implementation of the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy.
“The release of this report marks a key milestone for the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy,” said Minister Rau.
“It will serve as a critical resource for the industry by providing evidence that will be used to shape policy in the future.”
Tourism Ministers will consider the report at their meeting in Canberra tomorrow and discuss future action.
The report is available at www.tourism.gov.au.