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CPA Australia says thousands of overseas recruits are needed to meet demand.
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Ramp-up migrant intake to fix talent drought, says accounting body
24 March 2022
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10 minute read
Australia should open its doors to as many as 10,000 extra accountants every year to address the acute shortage facing practitioners and business, says CPA Australia.
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CEO Andrew Hunter said the nation needed to make up for two years of reduced intake during the pandemic and skilled professionals from India and Asia were eager to come.
“We are not going to fill the gap just from the domestic market,” he said, and the number would need to be “significant”.
“I think it is thousands of people per annum. I don’t think it’s tens of thousands, but I think it could be up to 10,000.”
“We’re playing catch-up because for the last two years, these migrants haven’t been able to get here.”
Just 79,600 places are allocated to skilled migrants during 2021-22 and the Home Affairs Department is calling for submissions on the “size and composition” of its program for next year.
In December, a joint submission by CPA Australia and CA ANZ calls for “a significant increase in the provision for skilled migration” to support Australia’s recovery with a preference for “accounting and finance professionals”.
The two bodies, which together represent around 300,000 in the industry, acknowledge concerns “that migrants take jobs” but say research shows this view is receding and fewer people now judge the level to be too high.
Mr Hunter said the mood among CPA Australia members had changed since the pandemic with the widespread staff shortage overturning previous reluctance to approve an increase.
“I would have said pre-COVID that was an issue, but it’s not today. In fact, you’ve got public practitioners who are saying, ‘We can't find good people, there’s just not enough around’.
“So, at this point, they would actually welcome it. Increasing supply is not the problem. There is a recognition in the profession and among small business owners that there is a shortage of skilled, trained accountants.”
He said migrants brought different perspectives and complemented the existing skill base.
“You get diversity, you get a completely different background, you get a different approach, and then you get better thinking and you get better solutions.”
And there was already a backlog of applications, especially from India and South-East Asia.
“We are seeing a very significant number of people who have good English, great skills, looking at Australia as a destination of choice for the accounting profession.
“We are working with the Department of Education Services to help them process and fast-track applications. And a significant number that we are seeing are coming out of India and Hong Kong. They are the two biggest application sources.
“It’s an important piece of the puzzle. It’s not the entire puzzle, but it is an important piece of it.”
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