Regional Aviation Association of Australia (RAAA) CEO Steve Campbell today reiterated his call for aviation engineers to be put on a priority skills list after Minister for Immigration Andrew Giles skirted the matter.
Campbell wrote to Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Catherine King in June this calling calling for aviation engineers to be placed on the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) because visa processing times were too long. King forwarded the concerns to Minister Giles to respond.
Giles wrote back to King in late July saying the Department of Immigration was working to resolve the visa processing times, but made no mention of the request to place aviation engineers on the PMSOL.
"The PMSOL was introduced as a temporary measure to identify occupations considered to be critical for the COVID-19 response and recovery of the Australian economy," Giles said in his reply to King. "I am currently reviewing these priorities and PMSOL to ensure they support improved visa processing times.
"Work underway to reduce visa processing times should make an immediate difference to employers in the aviation sector."
The response was not exactly what the RAAA was looking for as it fails to address adding engineers to the PMSOL, which has lead to Campbell reinforcing the RAAA's position.
“The RAAA welcomes the Immigration minister’s comments about boosting visa processing capacity to ensure that processing times are reduced," Campbell told Australian Flying.
"It is our contention, though, that aviation engineers are at such critical shortages, especially in regional areas, that they must be included on the PMSOL.
“Our members in regional areas are considering winding back operations which are essential to remote communities due to the lack of engineering staff.
"The RAAA implores the Minister to include these jobs on the PMSOL as soon as possible to assist in bringing these experienced workers to Australia under the skills shortages visa system."
Even so, Campbell acknowledges that importing engineers is only a temporary measure and that a long-term solution lies in training home-grown engineers in Australia.
“The RAAA recognises that this is a short-term fix and are also working with CASA and the government on streamlining engineering training to have clearer career pathways for young engineers, which we believe will assist in attracting more people to the industry.”