"The announcement by the Government is great news for the accommodation industry, with properties being able to access a reliable source of labour for seasonal work that may not be available locally," commented AAoA's CEO Richard Munro.
The Seasonal Worker Programme provides participating countries with work opportunities in the Australian agriculture and accommodation industries.
The benefits of this program have been recognised by the Australian Government and are evident from the changes that have been implemented. Such changes include allowing an uncapped number of seasonal workers and making the accommodation sector part of the programme on an ongoing basis for Western Australia, Northern Territory, Tropical North Queensland and Kangaroo Island.
"AAoA have been actively participating in the program since the pilot program was run and we encourage members who are in the selected areas to contact the Australian Government Department of Employment directly or contact us at AAoA for any assistance".
The accommodation industry is on a strong growth trajectory and sourcing labour in regional areas has been identified as a key challenge. This program will ease the strain on operators by sourcing a reliable workforce, in addition to the local labour market which is still the largest proportion of labour in our industry.
We would like to acknowledge Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb, Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop and Minister for Employment Eric Abetz for their continued support of the Accommodation industry and addressing this issue.