Skill Shortages exist when employers are unable to fill or have considerable difficulty in filling vacancies for an occupation, or if there are specialised skill needs within that occupation, at current levels of renumeration and conditions of employment, and reasonably accessible location.
Shortages exist typically for specialised and experienced workers, and can coexist with relatively high unemployment overall or within the occupation. An occupation may be assessed as in shortage even though not all specialisations of this occupation are in shortage. Occupations may be in shortage in particular geographical areas and not in others.
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The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) assesses skill shortages through a number of means, one of which is to survey employers who have recently advertised vacancies for selected skilled occupations. DEEWR produces lists of shortages for each State and Territory which can be accessed from the State and Territory Skill Shortages Lists.
DEEWR publishes skill shortages reports for individual occupations as well as summaries of skill shortages for each State and Territory. Reports currently available are mainly for trades, professions and associate professions. Click on the following link to view the current Skill Shortages Occupational Reports.
From 1 July 2007, the National Skills Needs List became the guide for determining the eligibility of employers and their Australian Apprentices for a range of Australian Government incentives. Previously MODL was used for this purpose. The new list of trade occupations is based on research conducted by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR). Click on the following link to see the occupations currently listed on the National Skills Needs List.
DEEWR undertakes skill shortage research on a six monthly basis through its National Office and State Offices, especially for Trades and Professional occupations. The findings of the research are built around the Survey of Employers Who Have Recently Advertised (SERA), a telephone-based survey, but may also include analysis of industry demand, employment or vacancy trends, migration and training commencements and completions.
The findings are incorporated into the State and Territory Skill Shortages lists. Skill shortage information is available for each State and for capital city and other areas for each State.
Research into Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skill shortages involves both an employer survey and a survey of ICT recruitment agencies, and covers around 60 ICT skills. For more information, please refer to the SkillsInfo ICT web page.
Regional skill shortages - A long standing data gap has been information on skill shortages for regions. Data limitations affect the reliability of labour market data at the regional level, adding to the difficulty in identifying emerging regional skill needs.
DEEWR has undertaken several Regional Skills Shortage Surveys, some in conjunction with the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development. Some of the findings have been made available as part of Better Connections Workshops or Survey of Employers Recruitment Experiences - Regional reports.
Region and Industry Survey Instrument - The ABS has developed a 'common survey instrument' to collect information on labour and skill shortages. The instrument contains a set of core or universal questions to be asked in skills shortage surveys and a survey methodology. Click on this link for further information on the Common Survey Instrument.
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