Home » Emigration Guides » Australia » Education » High Demand Skills In Australia

Employers in Australia are unable to find suitable candidates for numerous job vacancies in many different occupations as a result of a shortage of adequately skilled workers. Recent reports revealed that the country is suffering from skill shortages in a number of professional occupations, the majority of trades and specialised positions in Information and Communication Technology. The government of Australia is now actively addressing these issues via the Skilled Migration Program.

Skilled visa applicants are sponsored by state governments and receive preferential treatment, while each state has its own list of occupations which are in demand. Below is a list of skills which remain in demand in Australia.

• Accountancy: The demand is softening. But strong commercial and technical accounting skills remain in demand, if candidates have already completed the Australian CPA or ACA tax and law conversion subjects it can beneficial. Industries continuing to hire include: infrastructure, resources and utilities.

• Construction: Demand has moved towards specialist house building projects and government infrastructure projects as there remains an undersupply of homes, particularly in southeast Queensland. Bid management and business development candidates, project managers, electrical and mechanical designers and water industry engineers with construction experience are all sought after.

• Education: Teachers remain in high demand, particularly experienced teachers in rural regions, high quality and experienced teachers within the private school sector, senior high school design and technology teachers, qualified early childhood candidates, and teachers within mathematics, the sciences and ICT. Qualified teacher librarians are also needed.

• Engineering: there is demand for civil, electrical, electronic and mechanical engineers. Scientists, environmental engineers, infrastructure project managers and experienced design engineers with skills such as drafting and project/site supervision are all sought after. The main demand in this field is now in government infrastructure projects and gas exploration industries.

• Healthcare: there are numerous opportunities outside the big cities throughout this sector. Doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, specialists, nurses and midwives are all in demand.

• Information Technology: Quite a few specialisations which appear on a number of state sponsorship lists. Computing professionals in demand include those who specialise in data warehousing, J2EE, Java, Linux, internet security, Solaris, net technologies and Oracle.

• Legal: Lawyers with skills in restructuring and insolvency, as well as those involved in the construction and property sectors usually find opportunities.

• Oil & Gas: There has been a high demand in the country within the CSM Gas Industry. Senior level exploration, production facilities, Origin Energy and BG engineers are all sought after, as are sub-sea and subsurface candidates.

• Resources and Mining: the demand may have softened for mining engineers recently, but there is still a need for experience in the sector over the medium term across the range of disciplines, particularly gold, coal and CSM markets.

The requirements to meet the criteria for attaining a skilled visa include being under the age of 45, being competent in the English language and having and occupation on the Skilled Occupations List (SOL).