NT Skills Shortage Survey Results

What did our members say about the impact of the skills crisis?

To support our advocacy efforts in relation to the NT Workforce Skills Shortage, the Property Council of Australia NT Division surveyed members to capture data and case studies relating to the impact of skills shortages across the membership in the NT.

We can now provide the survey results .

You can also view coverage of this issue in the NT News highlighting?crime and anti-social behaviour as key factors contributing to the skills shortage:?"Crime, anti-social reason people leave NT ".

You can also listen to the interview below with Katie Woolf OAM and I on Mix 104.9

Property Council Executive Director Ruth Palmer says recent survey identified crime and anti-social behaviour as a key factor to skills shortage - Mix 104.9 Darwin (mix1049.com.au)

If the recommendations (below) that we previously put forward were to be put into action, we would anticipate seeing an increase in our population growth, workforce attraction, and economic activity. This would be a significant step towards realising the Northern Territory Government's vision for 2030, which calls for a $40 billion economy.

However, it cannot be ignored that the issue of crime and unacceptable behaviour is a deterrent to attracting people to the NT.

Results from the survey highlight the perception that in the NT you will be often confronted?with anti-social behaviour across the Territory.

The global messaging campaigns do not reflect what people see when they arrive.

Alcohol abuse and crime?in the NT do not only deter interstate migrants, but also?make it harder for long term locals to remain in the Territory.

If the quality of life in the NT is continually challenged by crime and alcohol, it is very likely that the long term local population and their investment will leave the Territory.

The Territory Government will need to examine legislative policies that previously dealt with this behaviour.

The key findings include that among those who participated in the survey:

• ?87.5 per cent are actively recruiting and 100 per cent of those are experiencing difficulty filling jobs.
• In response to a question about interstate perceptions of the NT, 86 per cent of respondents said there was a strong perception unacceptable behaviour and criminal activity were high in the Territory.
• 15 per cent of businesses were trying to recruit more than 30 staff, 14 per cent between 15 and 20 staff and 43 per cent less than five.
• Skilled workers made up 72 per cent of the workforce gap and 29 per cent of businesses cannot fill vacancies.
• The biggest barriers to interstate recruitment are perceptions of the Territory as a place to live and work (62.5 per cent) and concerns about housing availability (50 per cent)
• All businesses reported it takes 6 weeks or more to recruit workers and 75 per cent identified a lack of skilled local residents as the biggest barrier to recruiting locally.
• At least half businesses surveyed believe the worker crisis will have a high impact on capacity to complete current projects and project cost.

Given the current skills shortages impacting the sector the Property Council of Australia put forward six recommendations as part of a report titled, "Recommendations to Increase Skilled Worker Shortages in the NT ".

?The six recommendations were:

? ????Convert quarantine facilities into migrant housing

????Improve accessibility to home ownership for skilled migrants

????Advocate to the federal government on measures to promote migration to NT

????Expanded funding for talent attraction campaigns

????Advocate to the federal government on the new Developing the North Framework

????Introduce a Special Education Migration ZONE (SEMZ)

The report received media coverage in NT News highlighting that the economic risks of the skills shortage crisis are becoming more evident with projects stalling or being prevented from progressing past the planning stages..

The Property Council looks forward to working with the NT Government to progress policy responses to this challenge.

?Ruth Palmer, Executive Director?