Achieving secure and stable migrant employment: A study of agriculture, manufacturing and food processing in regional Queensland

Regional Australia is a major contributor to Australia's economy, producing approximately two-thirds of the nation's export earnings (RAI, 2015a). Currently, skill shortages exist in a number of regional Australian industries such as agriculture, manufacturing and the food/meat processing. Getting the right person with the right skills is often challenging for regional Australian employers. Presently many of the skill shortages in these industries are met by temporary overseas migrants on various visa arrangements.. While employing temporary migrants is widespread because of its perceived flexibility and lower costs but it is problematic due to costs associated with high levels of labour turnover; strict visa conditions, higher wage costs, other procedural aspects associated with hiring workers on temporary visas, and low levels of expenditure in the local economy. As one respondent commented “Backpackers come and go which is not good for business” (Respondent 6). . In the past decade the Australian government has encouraged permanent and temporary migrants to settle and work in regional Australia. There is also a push from the employers and industry bodies to make simplify the process for employing temporary migrants; however there remains considerable unemployment among permanent migrants. There is also a common view among employers, industry peak bodies, government departments and other key stakeholders interviewed that there are significant social and economic benefits of having permanent migrants in regional industries. Despite this we identified certain barriers to migrants settling and working in regional areas. The majority of migrants settle in capital cities and on current evidence most skilled migrants are unlikely to settle in regional Australia. In research terms the ‘missing link’ is a lack of studies addressing issues that affect the employment and settlement of migrants in regional Australia. This project identifies obstacles to the employment of migrants in the agricultural, manufacturing and food/meat processing industries in regional Queensland. Based on the findings recommendations are made in regard to: promoting regional communities, enhancing stakeholder communication, providing government incentives for employers and for migrants in the regional areas, employment, skills recognition, training and upskilling of permanent migrants, direct settlement of migrants in regional areas (instead of re-settlement), infrastructure development, community capacity building in regional areas, and reinvigorating effective practices for alleviating skill shortages in agribusiness in regional Queensland. The scope of this project was necessarily confined to the views of employers’ and industry peak bodies and we have yet to include the lived experience of the migrants. Therefore, it is suggested that an action research project involving a broad range of stakeholders including the migrant employees is carried out. As migrant communities are generally close-knit, future research should also address the role the leadership in migrant communities in building bridges between employers in regional Australia and to facilitate integration within the community.