The Skills Priority List provides a current labour market rating and a future demand rating for occupations nationally, plus current labour market ratings at a state and territory level.
AWU National Secretary Dan Walton says the list could be an important tool to alert government and industry of genuine skills shortages and how to address them, but once again is being used as a lever to open the door to cheap foreign labour.
"Every year this Federal Government says they have consulted stakeholders when compiling this list, and every year they have not consulted us," Dan Walton, AWU National Secretary, says.
"The list is supposed to provide labour-market analysis on occupations and how to address government responses to skills shortages.
"It should be targeting important things like apprenticeship incentives and workplace training, but instead is being used by a Federal Government hell bent on bringing in more cheap labour and driving down wage growth."
The latest Skills Priority List claims shortages in a number of fields, but the AWU says they don't stand up to scrutiny.
"Under the All Trades category, resource companies had record profits last year without any problems getting tradies," Dan says.
"The construction industry had a quieter than usual year, so if anything there is a slight oversupply of related trades.
"The list says we are short of shearers, but the national flock was shorn last year in the midst of a pandemic.
"It also says we also need agricultural and horticultural mobile plant operators, but the national harvest proceeded last year and produced record profits."
The skills list also points to shortages influenced by the pandemic.
"Cooks and chefs are in short supply now as people in hospitality were forced to work elsewhere or lost their jobs as their industry was severely affected by COVID lockdowns and tourism cuts," Dan says.
"Cheap overseas workers won't solve this problem, but if there is a skills crisis perhaps the government could restore the penalty rates it saw fit to cut last year, which made hospitality far less attractive and drove away skilled workers.
"And we know hair stylists are in demand, but that is down to that industry itself, with only one in three stylists finishing their apprenticeships due to a combination of low pay and poor employee treatment, and COVID lockdowns seeing scores of hairdressers walking away to start their own business and work from home."
The list is updated annually, with the National Skills Commission beginning its next survey later this year.
"Instead of pandering to industry and lobby groups the commission should start talking to workers and their representatives first, and make a genuine attempt at identifying and solving labour shortages," Dan says.
"The AWU represents more than 70,000 workers in dozens of industries, so we would be a good place to start."
