The ubiquitous skills shortage in automotive has received a preliminary boost with it staying on the federal government’s recognised shortage list.
The Federal Government’s will keep Automotive Trades on the Jobs and Skills Australia’s Occupational Shortage List (OSL) ensuring greatest focus on training, support for apprentices and employers and consideration for skilled migration.
But the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association says recognition is only a starting point for action with a forecast national shortfall of 40,000 automotive technicians by 2030, and current apprenticeship completion rates still below 40 percent.
The result is says is workshops across Australia are facing longer repair wait times, growing backlogs and increasing fatigue among staff.
No news
AAAA Chief Executive Officer Stuart Charity said the recognition of a shortage confirmed what every workshop already knows.
“The news that we’re in a labour shortage will surprise absolutely no one in our industry. Our members tell us every day that they can’t find qualified staff,” Charity says.
“Keeping Automotive Trades on the Occupational Shortage List is the right decision, and we appreciate the Government listening to evidence. The next step is practical reform — lifting apprenticeship completions, cutting red tape, and ensuring migration pathways actually work.”
Charity said staying on the list protects access to key levers — training, incentives and skilled migration — while government and industry work together on longer-term solutions.
Action needed
The AAAA wants the Government to lock in key automotive occupations on priority lists for at least five years to give employers certainty, cut excessive fees and delays for employer-sponsored skilled migration in proven shortage roles, remove restrictive occupational entry settings that add cost and delay without improving quality or safety and fix the apprenticeship model by improving workplace support, targeted incentives and flexible training pathways.
“Shortage lists and migration settings are stabilisers, not solutions,” Charity says. “Real progress depends on governments sitting down with industry to deliver a practical roadmap that keeps workshops open, customers moving, and the economy productive.
“Industry will do its part to attract and develop talent, but we need governments to match that commitment with policies that make it easier to train, hire and keep skilled people in the trade.”