Workforce and Skills

South Australia’s tourism and hospitality industry needs a secure, resilient, and skilled workforce.

To support our tourism industry during these challenging times, we have commissioned research into workforce supply and have provided a range of resources to help operators address skills shortages within their own businesses.

Research

South Australian Tourism Workforce Directions Paper

Focus: Skills shortages in tourism and hospitality sectors
Released: 2022

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (June 2019), tourism in South Australia employed 40,500 people across almost 19,000 businesses. The pandemic and the associated travel restrictions have exacerbated existing issues of workforce supply.

In response to the workforce challenges, we have developed this directions paper which outlines the priorities that need to be recognised as critical for the success of our industry.

Download

South Australian Tourism and Hospitality Workforce Survey

Focus: Skills shortages in tourism and hospitality sectors
Released: 2021

We commissioned research by Deloitte Access Economics, to highlight the extent of the issues and to identify possible solutions in the immediate, medium and long term. This evidence base, and the associated issues are included in the South Australian Tourism Workforce Directions Paper.

Download

Support for businesses

There are a range of State and Federal government resources and tools on offer to assist our tourism industry in workforce recruitment, skills and training.

Read on to find out more.

State Government resources

Webinar: Plugging the skills gap
Regional Work South Australia
Skilling South Australia

Webinar: Plugging the skills gap

How to Attract Employees in Times of Labour & Skills Shortages Webinar

The SATC and Workforce BluePrint recently partnered to deliver a webinar focusing on recruitment and retention of tourism and hospitality employees during times of skills and workforce shortages across both South Australia and nationally.

The webinar touched on:

Salaries and benefits – working conditions
Hiring process and recruitment
Online presence
Retention
Talent management
Attraction – diverse labour pool; advertising and appeal
Growth and development – skills and experience
Engagement – employees and training; regional opportunities
Social inclusion and diversity

A copy of the webinar resource can be found here.

Regional Work South Australia

Regional Work SA

Real Work, Real Experience is an initiative of the South Australian Government to support the uptake of seasonal and regional jobs in South Australia.

If you’d like to talk to someone about working, or employing staff, in the regions, you can contact a Regional Workforce Coordinator in one of eight local RDA offices across South Australia.

They can help with:

supporting job seekers who have registered through the Regional Work SA website to connect with regional jobs and advise on accommodation and transport options.
supporting businesses to register the jobs they have available through the Regional Work SA website platforms.
working with industry groups to facilitate transport and accommodation solutions.

Visit Contact us | Regional Work SA to find the contact details of the Regional Workforce Coordinators.

Skilling South Australia

Skilling South Australia is an initiative aimed at helping people get skills and qualifications to build careers and meet the workforce needs of industry now and into the future, driving growth in apprenticeships and developing a sustainable training system.

For information about where to start visit: Skilling South Australia • Innovation and Skills

There have also been a range of Skilling South Australia projects focusing on food, wine tourism and hospitality – if you are interested in becoming part of a project, visit: Projects • Innovation and Skills

For apprenticeships and traineeship information, including the Subsidised Training List, visit: Subsidised Training List (skills.sa.gov.au)

Federal Government support and resources

Visa application charge refunds
Austrade
PALM Scheme
Department of Education, Skills and Employment

Visa application charge refunds

The Australian Government will refund visa application charges for student visa holders who arrive in Australia between 19 January 2022 and 19 March 2022 and for working holiday maker visa holders who arrive in Australia between 19 January 2022 and 19 April 2022.

The government is also temporarily relaxing the six month work limitation for working holiday maker visa holders. Effective immediately, until the end of 2022, there will be no limit on the time working holiday makers can work for the same employer. These measures will support our tourism and hospitality industry by increasing the supply of students and working holiday makers able to work in the coming months.

Immigration and citizenship (homeaffairs.gov.au)

Austrade

The Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) have a range of support and resources available specifically for tourism businesses covering recruitment, retention, training and promotion of tourism as a career.

Recruiting and training tourism workers - Austrade

PALM Scheme

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade administers the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme. The scheme helps to address workforce shortages and provides employers with a pool of workers.

For enquiries about the Pacific Labour Scheme please contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: [email protected]

For enquiries about the Seasonal Worker Program please contact the Department for Education Skills and Employment: [email protected]

Department of Education, Skills and Employment

The Department of Education, Skills and Employment has programs and services to help businesses attract, train and keep workers.

Skills and Training - Skills and Training - Department of Education, Skills and Employment, Australian Government (dese.gov.au)

Employment - Employment - Department of Education, Skills and Employment, Australian Government (dese.gov.au)