By Annette Shailer
The Australian Hotels Association (AHA) has expressed its concern with the removal of chefs from the Skilled Occupation List, with the hotel industry already facing major difficulties in attracting qualified chefs.
AHA National CEO, Des Crowe, said that there is a massive shortage of chefs for AHA members relative to the demand and that the association is concerned that this position will get worse.
“Hoteliers currently rely on skilled migrants entering independently through the Skilled Occupation List to top up the labour force demands for chefs,” he said. “However, the exclusion of chefs from this list has now closed this source of recruitment.”
The new Skilled Occupation List also does not reflect the wishes of the Tourism Minister’s Council which wanted chefs included on the list as a necessary measure in implementing the National Long Term Tourism Strategy.
“Chefs have been the casualty of the Government’s crackdown on people seeking permanent residency through low-value education courses,” Crowe said.
“If the Government is concerned that some chefs are merely unskilled cooks then there needs to be a better migration entry system whereby highly-skilled chefs are recognised and allowed to migrate.”
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