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Firms are struggling to hire enough local workers to meet demand caused by insolvencies and reporting requirements, accounting bodies say.
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Government urged to fast-track visas for migrant accountants
20 June 2024
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The government must bring in more migrants with accounting, audit and finance skills because local talent is failing to meet the demand caused by insolvencies and new reporting requirements, according to CA ANZ and CPA Australia.
A joint submission by the two professional bodies urged the government to add accounting-related jobs to its final skills occupation list, allowing eligible workers to be fast-tracked into the country under the new Skills in Demand Visa.
“CA ANZ is calling for eleven occupations to be urgently added to the final core skills occupation list to address the ongoing shortages in accounting, audit and finance professionals across Australia which are not being filled by domestic candidates,” CA ANZ CEO Ainslie van Onselen said.
“While there’s been lively debate about why yoga instructors, martial artists and dog handlers are among the occupations the government is ‘confident should be on the list’, it’s time to get serious.”
The submission called for the addition of 11 occupations to the final core skills list: taxation accountant, general accountant, management accountant, external auditor, internal auditor, finance manager, financial investment adviser, management consultant, ICT security specialist, and ICT business analyst.
The call comes after a CA ANZ survey found only 67 per cent of accounting, audit and finance vacancies were filled between January and February.
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Even the country’s most prestigious firms were failing to attract local accountants despite “extensive recruitment efforts”, the submission said.
Consultation with the Australian Public Policy Committee (APPC) member firms – including BDO, Deloitte, EY, Grant Thornton, KPMG and PwC – found close to 1,000 vacancies among them as of April.
The shortage of external auditors was particularly acute, with APPC firms reporting 310 vacancies alone despite the use of employer-sponsored temporary skills shortage visas.
The drastic decline in the number of domestic student enrolments in accounting and accounting-related university courses such as management and commerce also “exacerbated” the shortage, it said.
Most firms expected demand to increase in the next five years for internal auditors (89 per cent), external auditors (76 per cent), taxation accountants (73 per cent), management accountants (60 per cent) and general accountants (55 per cent).
“[Businesses] need access to the expertise of accountants and auditors, not just now, but well into the future,” van Onselen said.
“A failure to include auditors and accountants on the final list won’t help organisations meet their mandatory legislative and regulatory audit requirements”.
The submission also noted the expansion of audits to cover financial and non-financial information – including climate reporting and assurance – had increased demand “with no sign of this trend slowing or reversing”.
Jobs and Skills Australia is expected to deliver its final advice on the core skills list to the government later this year.
The revamped four-year Skills in Demand visa replaces the Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) Visa as a part of the government’s 10-year migration strategy, which committed to fixing a “broken” system.
The government’s Working Future employment white paper released in September found that 80 per cent of skilled accounting migrants failed to find work within their chosen profession due to unconscious bias from employers, as well as regulatory hurdles including requirements for top-up qualifications and domestic recruitment processes.
Under the new three-tiered system, the core skills pathway would allow the applications of eligible workers paid between $70,000 and $135,000 to be fast-tracked.
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