The real cost of Australia’s worker shortage crisis | Four Corners 

People can't fnd anywhere to live. How do they expect people to move to a job if they have to literally live in a tent because rents are either unaffordable or non existent. They should have mentioned this more in the story because its a huge factor, especially in the regions.

Now Four Corners, tell the rest of the story - you have to be a doctor to AFFORD to move to Griffith. Nobody is moving there to pick fruit, serve coffee or work in childcare when even the cheapest house in town is 600K+. It is too expensive to move most anywhere in regional Australia. A home in a country town is now just as overpriced as the big cities.

No offense to those who are having issues but I was a while ago one of those fruit pickers. Picking oranges. What a coincidence. The ugly truth is that this is a tough job. You are all day left to your own devices in the field. There is no safety. Fall from the ladder , tough luck. Forgot your water, too bad! No food! Too bad as well. No toilets. Let's no talk about the bad pay either. I was getting $22 per bin. A bin is big plastic container that can hold around 300 kilos of oranges. It takes you about an hour and half to fill. So most days I made around $88 because by the time you reach the 4th or 5th bin you are shattered. Did you know that orange trees have needles? By the time I was done working on the farm, my arms had scars everywhere. Gloves are not provided. Your picking bag is not provided. You have to buy your own picking attire. Oh and worst of all, everyone in town knows you are a fruit picker so they jack up the price of everything to squeeze every last dime out of you. Case an point when i bought my picking bag, i paid $90 to get it. Only one shop it town sold them. Talk about a rip off. And when you leave, you can choose to sell it back to them for less than $20. These bags were then rented to even more unfortunate people who could not afford to buy their own bags outright. What about accommodation? You had to stay in hostel or on an approved camping ground who had a business deal with the farmers(kickbacks) . Should you choose to move out and find another accommodation, you would suddenly be removed from shifts and not get any work. Thus not being able to complete your mandatory 90 days quota to get your second year visa. Same as the picking bag, my rent for my bare-bones camping spot went up 30% after 6 weeks just because. Where could I go? Ther was nowhere to go. No way to escape. So i paid. I wont even get into the problem of actually getting paid which sometimes could take weeks. I am not even going to talk about the sexual harassment towards women that I have witnessed and heard through the grapevine. So you want to find people to pick your trees? Pay them. And treat people with dignity and respect just like you would like anyone else to treat you. When I was picking fruit I was just a number, a walking wallet and after working my butt off for 90 days I only had one wish, to get the hell away from that place as quickly as possible. I love Australia, but the farmers, they only have themselves to blame for this problem.

Let me put it this way. No one wants to get a 3 year degree so that they can get paid 23 dollars an hour with a huge amount of responsibility.

Australian Workers have propped up the corporate profits with little real wage growth. I for one worked for a US construction company in Australia working 70 hr a week until I was put in hospital into intensive care for work stress related hart issues. The site I was working on was remote 1000 km from home. This company didn't even send anyone to ensure I had a change of clothing from my work cloth. I was dumped and forgotten until a work colleague noticed I was not at work and started asking question. The company didn't even notify my next of kin. The American manager i had at the time showed no regard for his staff only for production and his won position in the company. Note event his boss also an American showed similar traits. It has been 8 years since this occurrence and I still suffer stress issues. I was pushed out of my position and have found it hard to find work since. At the time Australia’s worker shortage resulted in the exploitation of 457 visas allowing these so called professional managers to come to Australia from the US. We have a worker shortage because the coalition government over the last 10 years has not supported skills training of Australia to fill the position. Further employers and corporate have only look a profits and not succession planing. I have sympathy for the workers but no sympathy employers and corporate as they have created a psychopathic culture in workplaces at the deportment of there employees.

I quit my career of 26 years in the luxury hotel industry. Being pushed, unappreciated and the realisation I was just a number. The public were ruder than ever before. I would wake up in the morning dreading how much abuse I would receive today. . The company filling the property over and over even though we did not have the staff to manage it. Disgusting. Every single experienced hotelier I know has left. Now I have social anxiety, I stock shelves in a supermarket at night to avoid the public. (I really enjoy the work). 3 years ago I would never have dreamed this would happen.

Go speak to backpackers who have worked months without pay, with unwanted sexual advances and blackmailed to be able to extend their visas. Our 'poor' farmers are a bunch of grubs taking advantage of people. They are an embarrassment to Australia.

This is what happens when society's values are driven by instant gratification, convenience and greed. Until essential services, food production (off the land and not in science laboratories) and contribution to community is given the importance it deserves, our society will continue to decline. 'You can't eat money'

I had plans on working up to 65. I am skilled tradesman in heavy diesel mechanics. The dynamics have changed in the workforce and I struggled working with the mindset of the younger people. I retired early, best thing I ever did.

Once upon a time I thought about immigrating to Australia. Then I looked at your immigration system and concluded that the Australian government doesn't want immigrants.

American here. Accounting background. Fomer business owner. Come to Oz because I've heard there is a massive worker shortage and it's an interesting place. Paperwork took ages to process. Land in Sydney. Rent is exorbitant. Cost of living is high. Pay is relatively low compared to the states. Apply to 60 jobs in various industries. Never get a call back from any of them. Leave the country. Haven't looked back. I didn't fly across the world to pick fruit and wait tables for minimum wage.

Get a job but then you cant find a place to rent because its way too expensive. The system is broken.

I worked as a nurse in Aged Care, doing doubles and days on end. Yes need more nurses but not more paperwork, this is another issue that has got out of hand. Not enough time spending one on one care with residents that desperately need it. Reorganisation of nursing practice and more nurses would help

This is what happens when you rely on the politicians to manage our society. Lots of funds for car parks and sporting stadiums yet no vision for our skilled workforce present and future needs.

To be honest I'm furious! I came to Australia 2,5 years ago. I've been learning English from scratch and I thought if I could speak English I would find job in Australia easily. However all my application have been declined because I'm a student visa holder. Furthermore I have diploma as a teacher-psychologist in primary school, I have two masters degree as an engineer and as a manager, I used to work for the Russian Navy for 10 years but who cares? Just because it's Russian it's not listed in Australia so I have to study again but I can't afford it because I can't get well paid job. Nobody wants to deal with student visa holder. Getting certificate III in childcare for overseas students is incredibly expensive. I have so many friends with outstanding degree and work experience and they would love to come and work. Australian government deserves all those problems. There is huge staff shortage because education is unaffordable and getting even student visa is complicated.

Travelling to many regional parts of Australia this year we found there was insufficient permanent accommodation for potential workers. They won't come if there's nowhere to live.

Finding somewhere to live is the real challenge I'd gladly moved out there but it's too hard to find somewhere to live, Australias obsession with real estate value has come back to bite

Of those who prepared the episode, has anyone bothered asking a question where those workers that are so needed in Griffith are going to live? As of 2 December, there are 3 places for rent and 4 to buy in 50 km radius. And those available are not cheap, in fact they are more expensive than outer suburbs on Melbourne. Point is you cannot have it both ways - either affordable housing and workers or "equity mate" and no workers.

I'm always suspicious of the fruit producers claims of inability to find workers. Everything I have ever heard of these businesses can only find overseas workers for the jobs as the conditions are terrible, the job is backbreaking and the pay is not worth it. I feel awful seeing all that waste and have empathy for those struggling but that doesn't change the fact tha we need to re-evaluate how we look at and treat work forces. The fact of it is commercialism is a pyramid scheme and it got way to unbalanced and all the people feeling the effects are arguing amongst themselves over scraps while the few at the top of the pile create narratives that people just don't want to work. How do they think we are going to convince our youth to break their back working full time for a wage that doesn't even nearly cover the cost of living and with a work/life balance completely out of whack ?.

"We're looking for 30 workers but we wont pay you enough to house and keep yourself warm let alone buy a home and raise a family" No thanks

I'm sick of cries of worker shortages - esp from the supermarkets who they repeatedly reject me (as a shelf stacker) because I'm over 50. If the shortage was real, they would discriminate like this.

I'm 58 and my wife and I are VERY worried about our future, gas and food prices rising daily. We have had our savings dwindle with the cost of living into the stratosphere, we are finding it impossible to replace it. We can get by, but cant seem to get ahead. My condolences to anyone retiring in this crisis, 40years nonstop just for a crooked system to take all you worked for..

I dont know but somewhat i am grateful that here in the Philippines it might not be perfect but I can still get a check up whenever i need to without waiting for weeks. 😔

It's hard to find local people work on the farm because of low pay . They pay about $12/ hour not $29 or $45 in this clip.

there is no shortage of people to work. Pay them a proper wage and stop using cheap labour as a backdoor to immigration.

Root cause of workers shortage: The employers discriminate against people which : 1. Has no experience 2. Old 3. Colored skin 4. Cannot speak Australian English 5. Not with presentable personality. 6. Etc. Etc... In short , the employers are spoiled, consequently people unemployed or seeking jobs had surrendered and given up. DONT blame the unemployed people. It is the discriminatory practices of "spoiled" employers. Blame yourselves, spoiled discriminator-employers.

9 years of Liberal government 🤬

brilliant investigative journalism, one of the very few sources of it left in Australia unfortunately

the pay and conditions in childcare industry is horrendous!!!!

What can you expect from a (former) prime minister who referred to stranded Australians as "biological terrorists"? Australia put itself in this situation due to xenophobia and slamming borders shut in May 2020 after telling overseas working Australians to shelter in place in March 2020. 40,000 Australians were trapped overseas and desperate. They were treated like lepers when they finally made it home. Some spent $35,000 getting back, draining their life savings.

Absolutely heartbreaking stories. The fruit on the ground. The quiet trees laden, in wait, in vain. Like patients seeking health support... And the back of this is affordability of living. This is indeed a crisis we have not seen before in this way. It's going to keep hurting for several years until enough measures and policies have come into affect to ripple through. Couldn't come soon enough. The fatigue and burn out is so very real. The entire country is feeling it. Exhaustion is at its wits end.

The lack of internal training as standard operating procedures, vanished in the 90s, the endless padding in education where much of the material can be streamlined and shortened, delivering shorter, cheaper courses and lowering of the barriers to entry. Diversify your workforce, especially in the 40-65 age group, young managers lack the communication and people handling skills so lack confidence that they can work together with older colleagues which results in not hiring them and seeing older calmer Aussies as a threat.

I guess that's what happens when you become dependent on cheap foreign labour. Australians don't want to be treated like slaves.

Homes shortage, skills shortage, incomes are not good enough. To put your kids in day care and or to go to a psychologist is ridiculously expensive.

Just looking at rentals in Griffith and no wonder nobody is moving there. It's insane how high rent is for a house big enough for a family of 4 for example... over 400 dollars a week. Who has that money lying around. even the average house for sale for a family of 4 is extremely overvalued.

I agree with the lady who thinks that there needs to be more land releases and investment in housing. Also think that a program that supplies transport from the cities to this town with attractive boarding arrangements that help young single people to focus on saving for their future could be set up. It could work with all businesses to share employees during the different peak seasons, and provide events and entertainment like a working holiday. Imagine if we had a culture whereby everyone took a week or two off on leave from their regular job to do a working holiday in a regional town.

I’m a nurse and it continues to get worse. The vaccine mandate has killed the industry. The over working and under paid of our career is terrible.

Why doesnt the goverment then get rid of work for the dole. At the moment tens of thousands of people on centerlink do pointless meninal "volunteering" slave labour for $10 an hour. Send people to these country jobs where they will be paid an above award wage $30 an hour and learn skills to put them in the workforce for life. Fund proper trainning for industry standards, instead of dogey tafe certificates in retail or tourism.

Very insightful. Very sad. Stay strong Peter. We are here for you.

It’s not just GP shortages that’s the issue, the GP’s Medicare rebates aren’t enough to make the job worthwhile so they can no longer bulk-bill. This means low income earners either don’t access a doctor or alternatively attend the local hospital’s emergency department which then clog the hospitals.

I became PR last 10th of November 2022. I have to say this (unfortunately): during the period that an immigrant does the job recognizement companies exploit you with minimum wage. When someone reaches PR and send resume to other companies, they are not willing to pay anyway. The problem is that this situation now is known all over the world and people think twice before coming here due to visa fees, processing times and even workplaces (regional Queensland where I am I think is the worse from this point of view) that it is not a mistery that they are a little bit racist. People move to Canada, easy, less struggle and most of the people are welcoming one. Moreover I have been in bridging visa for 338 days. And, due to the fact that I have been granted a visa 190 qld, I cannot move out of Queensland to work (limitations is a very huge problem).

How y'all feel about foreign workers now? Love them or hate them, they do have a part in our workforce.

I been watching these exposes for decades and wondering how they can misidentify the problems so consistently decade after decade. Misidentify the problem and it never gets fixed. Doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. At what point does it become apparent to documentary film makers that they are doing more harm then good. While gathering the "facts" you're also forming an OPINION. If that opinion is incorrect it is on you the documentary film maker when the problem never gets fixed. There is a higher level of responsibility involved to not inject a incorrect bias. Engineers have a saying, "You cannot solve a problem using the logic that caused the problem in the first place." Asking employers for solutions to the problems they create will never lead to a proper solution. Employers always define the problem as someone else needs to do something for them. Never, they have to change how they do business. Over fish a fishery and crash the food source and it is always someone elses fault. Employers have to manage their labor resources and they don't do a very good job of it. In fact most don't do it at all. They don't see it as their responsibility. It is an added expense that doesn't add directly to profits, but it does go to sustainability of the operation. Get out of balance and you are heading for a crisis. Continue on the same path and you will get there. If you exploit a resource excessively and it crashes, it is on you to live with the consequences of your actions. A shortage can only occur at a price point. A labor shortages is no different. When ever you find yourself saying, "We or I cannot find workers", you need to get in habit of finishing the sentence with, "AT THE PRICE I'M OFFERING". Your labor force is out of kilter because the pricing mechanism is broken. It is broken because employers bring in foreign workers to suppress domestic wages and when they are successful for decades you get what we have here; employers addicted to cheep foreign labor. When you ask any addict for a solution more is always the answer. Employers are funny that way. From their perspective, the solution to this problem is more foreign labors, but it never dawns on them that bringing in foreign labor with the intention to suppress domestic wages will have consequences to them twenty years later. And more importantly that they shouldn't be doing it. When that time comes the government has to do something, but the problems persist. The problem must be the visa process is not the proper solution. Ten years from now we will still be discussing this with a completely different group of players. Doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. If you want to fix this problem the place to start is by making the victims whole again. All the existing local workers need a living wage and a place to live. Special skill sets need to be rewarded, too. Never let foreign workers that don't understand the cost of living where they are moving undermine the local's wage prices. There will always be long term consequences. Augment the work force not displace it for fun and profit. Manage your work force doesn't mean exploiting every opportunity to increase profits. Fix the labor pricing mechanism at the local level and foreigners will want to live there. Then and only then bring in foreign labor to fill the gaps. Neo liberalism sucks. Time to find something better. If you're a documentary film maker stop playing into the nonsense. You cannot solve a problem with the same logic that caused the problem in the first place.

re doctor shortage: stop wasting their time with sick certificates. Make it illegal for GPs to issue them and for workplaces to ask for them. They are such a waste of time for multiple reasons and GP's HATE them. Feel like this would reduce workloads by at least 10% ish. Your welcome state govt's

This is in the USA as well. My kids only go to school 2 days a week in person because the school district cannot find schoolbus drivers. They pay $24 an hour.

Great journalism team. Feel informed and it hopefully helps move the dial from an awareness pov

Why didnt we have a labour shortage when we were only 12 million people? Maybe we have too many irrelevant jobs, or maybe we don't pay essential workers nearly enough and they go and make coffee instead.

This is the end result of a rampart property market

Why should the workers need to choose between quitting and working 12+ hours per day? Let the worker, who is in high demand, give as much or as little as they want. They have the bargaining power. If you want to work for 4 hours per day, thank you. If you want to work for 10 hours, thank you as well. Last I checked, many jobs were per hour, not salaried. This would negate burnout and even encourage others to join the workforce.

The problem is that nations like Australia are recruiting professional workers in developing countries, leaving these countries even more short staffed. I live in South Africa and every person that leaves here for Australia might make Australia's problems less but ours much greater. There must a smarter way of addressing the problem than this zero sum game!

I worked in IT for 25years - in some of the biggest companies in Australia in very skilled and demanding positions. For the last 15 years, Australia has been flooded with IT "professionals" from a country I cannot name it here. The result is that top contract rates are 20% lower in net value, while the permanent rates are same as 10 years ago (also went down in terms of inflation). On the other hand, the work load went through the roof with countless requests to "help" and "upskill" the "team". The lack of workers is pure propaganda coming from businesses - a very efficient way to lower the wages and conditions.

as a healthcare worker its so heartbreaking to see patient lacking thei proper treatment and time due to surge of patients but the worst feeling is being attacked by those patients who are rude and slurs that are so outrageuous while you are trying to do your best to help them! these people dont know how we cope with thesee traumatizing patients lime you just wanna quit but due your calling and your love your work you stay and move on start your day again ! God bless them

Great report but very frustrating that the source of the issue was not investigated in-depth. Every industry has a staffing issue currently. Where did the pre-covid workforce disappear to?

If Goodstart has an extra teacher it is able to have another 85 children. Incoming 85 x $150 = $12,750 per week. Early childhood educator weekly wage $1046.00. Why the hell is the taxpayer subsidising these centres? Where the hell are all the profits for a non for profit centre going?

As an ageing society its getting worse MY WIFE WAITED 8 HOURS TO JUST GET BLOOD PRESSURE PILLS .The problem is also other countries won't let doctors leave their country as they have the same problems.

Problem is that Australian employers are looking for European works which is very far far away from Australia very few of them would consider moving to a distant oz land. We should be looking in our backyard which is Asia and the Pacific.

I call BS that there's no locals to fill positions. You can walk into these establishments and say, "here I am! I'm ready to work!" They'll turn around and say, oh I'm sorry you have to apply online, then when you go through their 10 step application process and click "submit" you never hear from them. Shortage BS!!

1.(45)years Age limit 2 Endemic bureaucracy 3.Inflexible & inadabtive immigration policies 4.Long waiting periods. All these reasons and many more make immigrating to Australia a losing game for a lot of immigrants. Sacrificing and risking a lot in exchange for very little benefits. Australia was my dream country. I failed to go there. I feel sorry for my fellow Healthcare workers who have to pay the cost of failing immigration policies.

The home ministry representative keeps saying they are trying but fails to mention how they are doing it. There is a backlog of 3000 visas for nurses, why? Canada processes visa in 2 weeks now. I think that problem is something else, they don't want immigrants (mainly who looks different from them).

Speaking of GPs in the 1990s the system for becoming a GP was changed. Before the change, any medical student who graduated would work for a year and then automatically be a GP. When the system was changed, the medical graduate had to work for several years under a GP, then be accepted into the GP program, then do another 4 years to be a GP. So the supply of GP's was reduced by government policy which is why there is a shortage today. Of course doctors who were already GP's in the early 1990s were happy because they had no competition and got more money. Politicians and the AMA do not like talking about this because they are the ones who caused the problem.

Part of a solution involves rapidly deployable pre-assembled housing located on council (crown) land with 199 year lease. Planning for services including public transport routes. Jobs are council jobs, guaranteed conditions, and the council hires its labour pool to local businesses.

This is what happens when you treat people like slaves and you get bosses on power trips

This is a laugh, I work in a nursing home struggling for staff, as are all homes, and one of our workers is trying to get a visa and has to prove that an Australian can't do her job!

Skills in demand here in Australia have been the same all over world searching it since mid 2021, health, care, teaching, technicians, engineers and ICT professionals. It is too late, many of the available candidates had been garnered by Canada, UK,EU and USA many months ago. Few leftover are being chased again and again. It is difficult bring them here at this point of time. Atleast whoever available here should not be lost. In reality, the temprory workers who had learnt the work, trained in Australian business are leaving day by day not because they want to, but they couldnt. Visa system here is not allowing them to continue. Although, New Govt is trying their best, amidst criticsm from liberals for every action, new initiatives are moving at snails speed with the sytem in between not supporting at all. Allowing international students working unlimited hours, extending work rights of international garduates for few more years, lowering the points required for migartion to bare minimum levels, new govt is trying all possible ways to fix skill shortage but it appears not sufficient enough . 2023 may see much worse chos as the state govts are still sitting at their ivory towers.

It's the same thing in the US. I live in a major city and I don't have a GP or Primarily Care Dr as we call it here. I have a Nurse Practitioner that takes care of those services. I see a specialist for endocrinology and she is booked out years in advance. My appointments are made yearly and you can't miss them.

Property is very expensive in rural areas as well as in the city areas

This makes me so angry. Where did you mention that wages are the problem. Wages have stagnated for ten years. Start talking about doubling wages and you will not have any more problems. People will come if you make it worth their while. Business people are entitled to profits, well workers are entitled to real wages.

Very complex situation, many of the comments here tend to focus on one outright thing that caused this... in reality it is many, many factors. I suppose my biggest peeve is well... in the little town my parents live in, the biggest problem is the lack of housing for the actual intent of housing workers... Plenty of friggen AirBNBs though, plenty of holiday homes and investment properties. But literally no affordable homes for the workers that actually keep the service economy afloat. There is no balance... when the balance is tipped, the whole structures tips over.

This is my workplace in massive crisis over staff shortages! I cry a lot at times.

Its embarrassing to hear the reporter said "early childhood teacher earn 26 per hour, the less that someone pick a fruit" you can clearly see a huge problem here.

Maybe pay people properly and stop treating them like slaves

I am a teacher and have been working since 2009. I want to move to Australia for my kids' better future but the visa consultant asked for $10000 as the overall cost for my visa alone it will be doubled if whole family is involved. As a Pakistani... With the drowning economy... A hell of the cost for seeking visa and then getting to this situation where immigrants are underpaid, deprived of economical housing and mistreated... It's awful.

They are leaving the country for other places because the cost of living is to dam high and no place affordable to live rent will take away all your earnings

These businesses did not just start trading this year. They have been around for years and previously they didn't have worker shortage. So where did those workers go? Why didn't they return to these businesses like previous years? Did all of them get better offer somewhere else? Unlikely. Honestly, I am wondering what those workers are doing now to put food on their table if they decline $45/hr offer.

I'm about a year out from being a qualified highschool teacher and I'm already looking overseas. Australians don't value education unfortunately.

My husband is an overseas doctor living here in Melbourne and he can't get into the system because of unreasonable exams that they have to pass to start practising. It's been 3 years and his talent is wasted by working as a security guard.

Since lockdowns in Melbourne the shortage started and I had a few medical aliments. I couldn't see my Doctor. After a really painful ingrown Toenail I studied google and used scapel and did the surgery myself. Now I've become so used of self assisting myself. I don't need to self medicate as I only have Panadol but I am strugling with severe headaches. To get through this I just take 2 Panadol and wait till the pain is over. I do think of death as there is not a Doctor that will help. They used to before COVID but that got in the way of other aliments and you have to do home surgery at home. Thanks google for the study

I can relate to this. Working in the front line whit out nurses and general practitioners. We are tired of double shifts 😪. Mental health is true

I would love to do the picking, a couple of problems, my health is pretty shit right now, and type 2 diabetes has had me in and out of the hospital 10 times in the last 12 months. I feel for the farmers, and because welfare is so miserable and doesn't cover the cost of living let alone my medications, picking fruit would be something as a former chef and long-time foodie, is very appealing!

In Australia licenses are required for jobs like bartenders and coffee baristas and for most jobs other than the most menial work, and degrees are required to change bedpans or clean toilets in hospitals. That is the biggest problem of working in Australia -- over regulation and its nanny state attitude. Manufacturing employment is almost nil in Australia

I have a family member who has a medical degree from one of the top 100 universities in the world who would love to come and work here however the government red tape and dated immigration policy makes it nearly impossible . To say “we need to train and employ our own gps “ is utter horse shit when you can go and labour on a construction site or hold up a stop sign for 180k a year

Amazing immigration policies, don't you just love protectionist nationalism peddled by conservative politicians

this culture will change vastly as work shortage gets bigger, and ozzies still be like "These foreigners taking all our jobs"

I'm truck driver with 3year driving experience who wishes to go and work in Australia but getting work visa very difficult.

This is the same in the UK, I thought that when COVID lock down hit and companies went bust that there would be more people than jobs! Where did everyone go!

Griffith drives west 790 km to Adelaide (8 hrs); drives east 570 km to Sydney (6 hrs); drives south 470 km to Melbourne (5 hrs); for a job A$40 per hour, what do you think?

People now want to be rich without the physical labour thats the Issue, they call it thinking Smart

This just reminds me of the late 70's early 80's. Plenty of work for those willing to look for it. Companies training their new staff and offering incentives to land that worker. Power to the people..

$45 per hour and Zero people. Unbelievable. Here in Japan the average hourly wage is around $10 or lower. Government officials are definitely not up to the task…while the rest of Australia suffers!

As a Nurse I'm wondering just what the hell is the point of the 1st Doctors/Nurses wearing Gowns, gloves, face shields, then moving from room to room and patient to patient wearing the SAME KIT?? JUST SPREADING INFECTION, ANYWAY 😮

I can’t get a job. I’m 55 just recently moved from a rural area to a city. They don’t want older workers. They want 16 year old casual kids who can live at home with mum and dad.

There is no shortage! Get rid of these idiotic dumb stupid mandates and employ all those currently denied work!

That's complete rubbish when he says they were offering $45 an hour. That's why Aussies don't do it anymore, they used to have to be good to people, on farm accommodation or camping, season bonuses, morning tea, water in the paddock etc. It's gone from most farms and thus the workers. I am sick to death of them saying people are earning big money, it's a lie that deters even more people, they deserve very little sympathy.

Heartbreaking 😢

I am experienced GP from oversea in Australia, system is so complex and ransom they haven't gave me opportunity to be in healthcare system while less experienced or newly grade from here and overseas got the job while I am not getting interview call even. I used to work for one of the giant company from USA as doctor in worldwide locations and now am working as cheap labourer and worried about the future here

This is going to be a long winded explanation of the Hospitality industry, so bear with me. As a Chef of 38 yrs experience I have seen from one end of the spectrum to the other. 1) the industry, historically has been the lowest paid for professional people & burn out levels through over work & demanding employer's was/has/is extreme. 2) Many years ago, immigration to increase staff was boosted, but here's the kicker....these foreign workers (immigrants & backpackers) would often approach a prospective employer & offer to work below award, which in turn meant people actually trained here would lose their jobs all for profit margins. YES, I have seen this. 3) the industry is also rather reliant on "paying under the table", which leads to exploitation on many levels. Now, here we go.... Covid was the bomb the workers themselves needed. Many,many staff simply left the industry altogether when jobkeeper was introduced, by taking that time & re evaluating their lives & actually found training in other industries,studies in other fields or paying job's that did not destroy or impact their mental health to the degree that hospitality does. As such, you will never see them again. Myself....I would love to get out, but who will re train me at my age? I would love to do an apprenticeship in any of the metal trades (a passion), but, who is going to look at a 54 yr old as a prospective apprentice?

Probably the greatest problem in moving rural is the cost of living ... Too much washed money flooding in propping up property prices and creating new benchmarks for real estate . If the powers that be removed the dirty money - then housing prices fall and pickers could potentially afford to live in the area. Outside of cost of living decreases I cannot imagine why moving rural would be so attractive. Sure its nice living and working rural... but working to remain flat broke a long way from fam and friends is not attractive . .

It might be worth looking into the Agmove scheme , that was quietly cancelled recently , just to see if the scheme actually made an impact on regional communities.

We are seeing the same in Canada.

Why is it that Autralians can't become GP's? Are foreighn people more capable? Of course not, but physician boards prevent its citizens from aspiring to these jobs. Sad.