Shire of Katanning adds support to Designated Area Migration Agreement pitch to solve skills shortage

A region-wide push to attract more skilled migrants to the Great Southern in a bid to relieve local worker shortages has been backed by the Shire of Katanning. Councillors voted unanimously at a meeting last Thursday to back a proposal for the 11 Great Southern local governments to apply for a Designated Area Migration Agreement to make it easier for skilled workers to live and work in the region. DAMAs are a formal agreement between the Federal Government and a region designed to provide access to more overseas workers than through standard skilled migration. It would allow for a more flexible list of skills and concessions when it comes to attracting international workers to a region based on its needs. There are 12 active agreements across Australia, four of which are in WA. The Shire of Kojonup asked each Great Southern council to vote on whether to take part in a joint application for a DAMA before the end of August. The Kojonup, Kent, Woodanilling and Denmark shires have already voted to support a DAMA proposal. Speaking at the Katanning meeting, councillor Kristy D’Aprile said worker shortages were the “number one issue” facing the region. “One of the biggest things we struggle with as a small business but also along with some of our bigger employers like WAMMCO and Woolworths is they’re just isn’t any staff on the ground,” she said. The proposal would see each council contribute funding relative to their populations to cover the costs of developing a business case, believed to be between $80,000 and $100,000. Cr D’Aprile described the $7000 the council was expected to contribute towards building a business case for the agreement as a “great investment”. “Once this has been established and we can create some pathways for our local businesses to access the DAMA, I think that could be an excellent outcome for our community,” she said. Albany-based Regional Development Australia Great Southern is set to lead and manage the DAMA application process and become the designated area representative. Manager Simon Lyas said if all Great Southern local governments pledged support for the proposal, work would begin immediately to identify workforce gaps across the region. Mr Lyas said employers aiming to bring in workers would need to prove they had been unable to fill positions locally. “Part of the circumstances to be eligible as a sponsor employer is that they have to prove to the Department of Home Affairs that they did try to fill the position with Australian workers,” he said. “Every employer has to substantiate that they made a legitimate effort to fill the position. “So I think it’s a win-win for everybody. “Employers win, skilled migrants win and the region is able to operate with better productivity because they won’t have a lack of a workforce.”