Indigenous children's commissioner to begin urgent work
Wurundjeri and Ngurai Illum Wurrung woman Sue-Anne Hunter has been appointed Australia's first National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people.
She said it's an honour to accept the responsibility to protect the wellbeing, rights, and interests of Indigenous children and young people.
"The work is urgent and the statistics are grim. But our children are not statistics, they are our future," she said.
"This role will elevate their voices and their concerns. They will be at the centre of everything I do."
Ms Hunter has a background in the family services sector, including work at the peak body for Indigenous children, SNAICC, as well as at the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency and as a frontline social worker.
Most recently she was a commissioner and deputy chair of the Yoorook Justice Commission.
Ms Hunter will replace Lil Gordon who has performed the role of acting commissioner since January.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Malarndirri McCarthy thanked Ms Gordon for her service, saying she was looking forward to working with Ms Hunter.
"Sue-Anne Hunter will be a fierce advocate for First Nations children and young people as Commissioner," she said.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are over 10 times more likely to be in out-of-home care compared with non-Indigenous children, and 27 times more likely to be in youth detention.
Recent data shows efforts to reduce the overrepresentation of First Nations children in out-of-home-care are going backwards.
Through her role as commissioner, Ms Hunter will hear from children and young people on issues that directly affect them, and drive change to dismantle the barriers they face.
"I recognise that we are at risk of losing another generation to systems that fail them, to removal, out-of-home care, detention and a bleak future," she said.
Ms Hunter's appointment comes in time for National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Day on Monday.
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said the day is a reminder that more work needs to be done to ensure all children have the same opportunities.
"First Nations children and young people are the heirs to 65,000 years of continuous culture and heritage," she said.
"We must ensure they can grow up connected to their family, community, culture, and Country."
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The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
The solution to Australia's skills shortage hiding in plain sight
In Australia today, like the proverbial chameleon in the crowd, there is an issue and its solution hiding in plain sight. Migrants and refugees are struggling to get jobs that befit their skills and experience. At the same time, we have a critical skills shortage. Migrants and refugees face barriers, including a lack of local experience and networks, English language proficiency or pronunciation and a lack of familiarity with Australian workplace culture and the job market. There are also difficulties and barriers, including exorbitant costs, in getting overseas qualifications recognised in Australia. These structural barriers inhibit positive migrant and refugee career outcomes. Also, employers can be reticent or unsure about hiring migrants and refugees, and mainstream employment services often are either not accessible or unsuited to migrants and refugees. Easily available statistics and research paint a picture of the effect of this situation. Migrants from non-English-speaking countries suffer persistent wage gaps, and overseas-educated migrants earn less than similarly qualified Australians, particularly those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Poor English can affect employment, with 44 per cent of migrants and refugees working below their skill level, even though 57 per cent of them hold university qualifications. And strong accents or a lack of knowledge of local industry jargon exacerbates the problem. At the same time, we know there are critical workforce shortages across a plethora of sectors. The current shortfall of GPs in Australia will rise to 3900 in 2028 and to more than 8900 in 2028; and the undersupply of nurses will rise to almost 80,000 by 2035. Engineers Australia has reported that the nation's engineering skills and labour shortage are at their highest level in a decade. And Master Builders Australia says 130,000 extra tradies will be needed by 2029 to meet the growing demand for new housing. 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At the same time, we know there are critical workforce shortages across a plethora of sectors. The current shortfall of GPs in Australia will rise to 3900 in 2028 and to more than 8900 in 2028; and the undersupply of nurses will rise to almost 80,000 by 2035. Engineers Australia has reported that the nation's engineering skills and labour shortage are at their highest level in a decade. And Master Builders Australia says 130,000 extra tradies will be needed by 2029 to meet the growing demand for new housing. The Commonwealth government's Jobs and Skills Australia agency has estimated that 67 occupations covered by the Technicians and Trades Workers category are in chronic and long-term shortage, representing about one-third of all skills shortages across the country. These shortages are pushing up construction costs and are worse in rural and regional areas, many of which are vulnerable to natural disasters. The boom in renewable energy, data centres to support AI and major infrastructure projects as well as our aging populations and increased demand in care sectors mean these shortages are neither short term nor geographically limited. Making matters worse is global competition for skilled migrants, competition between states within Australia for workers with critical skills and the leakage of skilled workers from regional areas to the cities. But this situation is also an economic opportunity for Australia. Better harnessing the skills and experience of migrants would deliver economic dividends through addressing professional workforce shortages, boosting productivity and reducing the overall cost of creating the professional workforce we need. This is evidenced in some simple numbers. It costs Australia anywhere from $180,000 to $500,000 - including Commonwealth Place Supported funding - to produce a registered doctor. 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This includes our looking at our recruitment practices and critically assessing whether they are a barrier to accessing migrant talent. We need to support migrants and refugees with job readiness training initiatives, such as the Skilled Professional Migrant Program delivered by my organisation, AMES Australia. Recently, we commissioned an economist to run the numbers on the effect of a national rollout of the program, a scheme that has a proven record of supporting migrants and refugees into jobs commensurate with their skills and qualifications. The paper, produced by Dr Ian Pringle, found utilising the skills and experience migrants and refugees bring with them could benefit Australia's economy by as much as $10 billion over five years. It found that supporting new arrivals to re-establish their professional careers in Australia could generate more than $2.5 billion in extra tax receipts as well as an extra $8 billion in earnings circulating in the economy over five years. What's more is that the extra access to skills could also produce a 10 per cent spike in productivity. The skills gap is an issue that has evolved again and again over time. Historically, Australia's response has been a siloed approach when what we have is an economic problem that needs a systemic all-of-the-economy response. It's a problem that we have identified but failed to properly pin down and solve over decades. That's the reason why Australia needs a national and integrated initiative to harness the skills of migrants and refugees, while reaping the economic and social benefits that it would bring before that chameleon changes its colour and disappears into the crowd again. In Australia today, like the proverbial chameleon in the crowd, there is an issue and its solution hiding in plain sight. Migrants and refugees are struggling to get jobs that befit their skills and experience. At the same time, we have a critical skills shortage. Migrants and refugees face barriers, including a lack of local experience and networks, English language proficiency or pronunciation and a lack of familiarity with Australian workplace culture and the job market. There are also difficulties and barriers, including exorbitant costs, in getting overseas qualifications recognised in Australia. These structural barriers inhibit positive migrant and refugee career outcomes. Also, employers can be reticent or unsure about hiring migrants and refugees, and mainstream employment services often are either not accessible or unsuited to migrants and refugees. Easily available statistics and research paint a picture of the effect of this situation. Migrants from non-English-speaking countries suffer persistent wage gaps, and overseas-educated migrants earn less than similarly qualified Australians, particularly those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Poor English can affect employment, with 44 per cent of migrants and refugees working below their skill level, even though 57 per cent of them hold university qualifications. And strong accents or a lack of knowledge of local industry jargon exacerbates the problem. At the same time, we know there are critical workforce shortages across a plethora of sectors. The current shortfall of GPs in Australia will rise to 3900 in 2028 and to more than 8900 in 2028; and the undersupply of nurses will rise to almost 80,000 by 2035. Engineers Australia has reported that the nation's engineering skills and labour shortage are at their highest level in a decade. And Master Builders Australia says 130,000 extra tradies will be needed by 2029 to meet the growing demand for new housing. The Commonwealth government's Jobs and Skills Australia agency has estimated that 67 occupations covered by the Technicians and Trades Workers category are in chronic and long-term shortage, representing about one-third of all skills shortages across the country. These shortages are pushing up construction costs and are worse in rural and regional areas, many of which are vulnerable to natural disasters. The boom in renewable energy, data centres to support AI and major infrastructure projects as well as our aging populations and increased demand in care sectors mean these shortages are neither short term nor geographically limited. Making matters worse is global competition for skilled migrants, competition between states within Australia for workers with critical skills and the leakage of skilled workers from regional areas to the cities. But this situation is also an economic opportunity for Australia. Better harnessing the skills and experience of migrants would deliver economic dividends through addressing professional workforce shortages, boosting productivity and reducing the overall cost of creating the professional workforce we need. This is evidenced in some simple numbers. It costs Australia anywhere from $180,000 to $500,000 - including Commonwealth Place Supported funding - to produce a registered doctor. For overseas trained medicos, that figure is around $28,500 - and it could be lower with more streamlined qualifications recognition. Better utilising migrant and refugee skills would also deliver a social dividend through the better integration of newcomers into the community, thus bolstering social cohesion and further supporting disadvantaged cohorts of migrants and refugees. To do this, we need to address the three pillars of the problem: providing access to gap training and qualification recognition; preparing people for Australia's workplace culture and environment; and addressing employer attitudes and bias toward international skills. Practically, this provides a collective approach to reduce the cost and simplify the processes for requalification and qualification, with clearly communicated pathways. We need to support employers to be more confident about overseas-trained staff through incentives and programs to address discrimination. This includes our looking at our recruitment practices and critically assessing whether they are a barrier to accessing migrant talent. We need to support migrants and refugees with job readiness training initiatives, such as the Skilled Professional Migrant Program delivered by my organisation, AMES Australia. Recently, we commissioned an economist to run the numbers on the effect of a national rollout of the program, a scheme that has a proven record of supporting migrants and refugees into jobs commensurate with their skills and qualifications. The paper, produced by Dr Ian Pringle, found utilising the skills and experience migrants and refugees bring with them could benefit Australia's economy by as much as $10 billion over five years. It found that supporting new arrivals to re-establish their professional careers in Australia could generate more than $2.5 billion in extra tax receipts as well as an extra $8 billion in earnings circulating in the economy over five years. What's more is that the extra access to skills could also produce a 10 per cent spike in productivity. The skills gap is an issue that has evolved again and again over time. Historically, Australia's response has been a siloed approach when what we have is an economic problem that needs a systemic all-of-the-economy response. It's a problem that we have identified but failed to properly pin down and solve over decades. That's the reason why Australia needs a national and integrated initiative to harness the skills of migrants and refugees, while reaping the economic and social benefits that it would bring before that chameleon changes its colour and disappears into the crowd again. In Australia today, like the proverbial chameleon in the crowd, there is an issue and its solution hiding in plain sight. Migrants and refugees are struggling to get jobs that befit their skills and experience. At the same time, we have a critical skills shortage. Migrants and refugees face barriers, including a lack of local experience and networks, English language proficiency or pronunciation and a lack of familiarity with Australian workplace culture and the job market. There are also difficulties and barriers, including exorbitant costs, in getting overseas qualifications recognised in Australia. These structural barriers inhibit positive migrant and refugee career outcomes. Also, employers can be reticent or unsure about hiring migrants and refugees, and mainstream employment services often are either not accessible or unsuited to migrants and refugees. Easily available statistics and research paint a picture of the effect of this situation. Migrants from non-English-speaking countries suffer persistent wage gaps, and overseas-educated migrants earn less than similarly qualified Australians, particularly those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Poor English can affect employment, with 44 per cent of migrants and refugees working below their skill level, even though 57 per cent of them hold university qualifications. And strong accents or a lack of knowledge of local industry jargon exacerbates the problem. At the same time, we know there are critical workforce shortages across a plethora of sectors. The current shortfall of GPs in Australia will rise to 3900 in 2028 and to more than 8900 in 2028; and the undersupply of nurses will rise to almost 80,000 by 2035. Engineers Australia has reported that the nation's engineering skills and labour shortage are at their highest level in a decade. And Master Builders Australia says 130,000 extra tradies will be needed by 2029 to meet the growing demand for new housing. The Commonwealth government's Jobs and Skills Australia agency has estimated that 67 occupations covered by the Technicians and Trades Workers category are in chronic and long-term shortage, representing about one-third of all skills shortages across the country. These shortages are pushing up construction costs and are worse in rural and regional areas, many of which are vulnerable to natural disasters. The boom in renewable energy, data centres to support AI and major infrastructure projects as well as our aging populations and increased demand in care sectors mean these shortages are neither short term nor geographically limited. Making matters worse is global competition for skilled migrants, competition between states within Australia for workers with critical skills and the leakage of skilled workers from regional areas to the cities. But this situation is also an economic opportunity for Australia. Better harnessing the skills and experience of migrants would deliver economic dividends through addressing professional workforce shortages, boosting productivity and reducing the overall cost of creating the professional workforce we need. This is evidenced in some simple numbers. It costs Australia anywhere from $180,000 to $500,000 - including Commonwealth Place Supported funding - to produce a registered doctor. For overseas trained medicos, that figure is around $28,500 - and it could be lower with more streamlined qualifications recognition. Better utilising migrant and refugee skills would also deliver a social dividend through the better integration of newcomers into the community, thus bolstering social cohesion and further supporting disadvantaged cohorts of migrants and refugees. To do this, we need to address the three pillars of the problem: providing access to gap training and qualification recognition; preparing people for Australia's workplace culture and environment; and addressing employer attitudes and bias toward international skills. Practically, this provides a collective approach to reduce the cost and simplify the processes for requalification and qualification, with clearly communicated pathways. We need to support employers to be more confident about overseas-trained staff through incentives and programs to address discrimination. This includes our looking at our recruitment practices and critically assessing whether they are a barrier to accessing migrant talent. We need to support migrants and refugees with job readiness training initiatives, such as the Skilled Professional Migrant Program delivered by my organisation, AMES Australia. Recently, we commissioned an economist to run the numbers on the effect of a national rollout of the program, a scheme that has a proven record of supporting migrants and refugees into jobs commensurate with their skills and qualifications. The paper, produced by Dr Ian Pringle, found utilising the skills and experience migrants and refugees bring with them could benefit Australia's economy by as much as $10 billion over five years. It found that supporting new arrivals to re-establish their professional careers in Australia could generate more than $2.5 billion in extra tax receipts as well as an extra $8 billion in earnings circulating in the economy over five years. What's more is that the extra access to skills could also produce a 10 per cent spike in productivity. The skills gap is an issue that has evolved again and again over time. Historically, Australia's response has been a siloed approach when what we have is an economic problem that needs a systemic all-of-the-economy response. It's a problem that we have identified but failed to properly pin down and solve over decades. That's the reason why Australia needs a national and integrated initiative to harness the skills of migrants and refugees, while reaping the economic and social benefits that it would bring before that chameleon changes its colour and disappears into the crowd again.
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Labor's international student backflip a 'farce', as economist claims Albanese government 'selling migration and work rights'
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The Advertiser
3 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Australia urged to take key step to stamp out racism
Australia's race discrimination commissioner rejects the notion of "casual racism", warning prejudice is having a significant cost on the economy. "It's much more than skin deep, it can really scar you in on your soul," Giridharan Sivaraman told AAP. "It's in every aspect of our society." The commissioner said one way this manifested was in the workplace, with job hunters with Anglo-friendly names more likely to get a call back for a gig. People with qualifications from non-English speaking countries were more likely to be employed in jobs below their levels of experience, or in roles in entirely different fields. In an address to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, Mr Sivaraman will say Australia is at a "critical time" where a whole-of-government approach is needed to tackle racism. He will call on Labor to commit to the national anti-racism framework, handed down by the Australian Human Rights Commission last November. "It's the racism that's in our systems and institutions, it's stopping people from being able to thrive or simply be safe," he said ahead of his address. "Taking action against racism doesn't take anything from any person. It actually improves society for everyone." The commissioner said Australia needed to face the issue with "courage and honesty" as to why this keeps happening. "There needs to be fundamental change ... that's the real conversation that we should all be having," he said. Mr Sivaraman said the issue needed investment as opposed to the ad hoc and disjointed approaches from past governments. The voice to parliament referendum, held in October 2023, had led to an increase in discrimination and prejudice against Indigenous people, he added. "There can be no racial justice in this country without justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and that is abundantly clear," Mr Sivaraman said. The commissioner said different ethnic groups could also be targeted in Australia during points of rupture in society. He pointed to the "bile" that was directed towards people of Asian heritage during the COVID-19 pandemic, and most recently, soaring levels of anti-Semitism and anti-Palestinian sentiment fuelled by the war in Gaza. The Australian Human Rights Commission will next week launch an online survey to ask university students and staff across the nation about experiences of racism. Mr Sivaraman said this would be done to get a "baseline" of prejudice at the nation's higher education institutions. The survey will be distributed via email by universities and participants will remain anonymous. Australia's race discrimination commissioner rejects the notion of "casual racism", warning prejudice is having a significant cost on the economy. "It's much more than skin deep, it can really scar you in on your soul," Giridharan Sivaraman told AAP. "It's in every aspect of our society." The commissioner said one way this manifested was in the workplace, with job hunters with Anglo-friendly names more likely to get a call back for a gig. People with qualifications from non-English speaking countries were more likely to be employed in jobs below their levels of experience, or in roles in entirely different fields. In an address to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, Mr Sivaraman will say Australia is at a "critical time" where a whole-of-government approach is needed to tackle racism. He will call on Labor to commit to the national anti-racism framework, handed down by the Australian Human Rights Commission last November. "It's the racism that's in our systems and institutions, it's stopping people from being able to thrive or simply be safe," he said ahead of his address. "Taking action against racism doesn't take anything from any person. It actually improves society for everyone." The commissioner said Australia needed to face the issue with "courage and honesty" as to why this keeps happening. "There needs to be fundamental change ... that's the real conversation that we should all be having," he said. Mr Sivaraman said the issue needed investment as opposed to the ad hoc and disjointed approaches from past governments. The voice to parliament referendum, held in October 2023, had led to an increase in discrimination and prejudice against Indigenous people, he added. "There can be no racial justice in this country without justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and that is abundantly clear," Mr Sivaraman said. The commissioner said different ethnic groups could also be targeted in Australia during points of rupture in society. He pointed to the "bile" that was directed towards people of Asian heritage during the COVID-19 pandemic, and most recently, soaring levels of anti-Semitism and anti-Palestinian sentiment fuelled by the war in Gaza. The Australian Human Rights Commission will next week launch an online survey to ask university students and staff across the nation about experiences of racism. Mr Sivaraman said this would be done to get a "baseline" of prejudice at the nation's higher education institutions. The survey will be distributed via email by universities and participants will remain anonymous. Australia's race discrimination commissioner rejects the notion of "casual racism", warning prejudice is having a significant cost on the economy. "It's much more than skin deep, it can really scar you in on your soul," Giridharan Sivaraman told AAP. "It's in every aspect of our society." The commissioner said one way this manifested was in the workplace, with job hunters with Anglo-friendly names more likely to get a call back for a gig. People with qualifications from non-English speaking countries were more likely to be employed in jobs below their levels of experience, or in roles in entirely different fields. In an address to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, Mr Sivaraman will say Australia is at a "critical time" where a whole-of-government approach is needed to tackle racism. He will call on Labor to commit to the national anti-racism framework, handed down by the Australian Human Rights Commission last November. "It's the racism that's in our systems and institutions, it's stopping people from being able to thrive or simply be safe," he said ahead of his address. "Taking action against racism doesn't take anything from any person. It actually improves society for everyone." The commissioner said Australia needed to face the issue with "courage and honesty" as to why this keeps happening. "There needs to be fundamental change ... that's the real conversation that we should all be having," he said. Mr Sivaraman said the issue needed investment as opposed to the ad hoc and disjointed approaches from past governments. The voice to parliament referendum, held in October 2023, had led to an increase in discrimination and prejudice against Indigenous people, he added. "There can be no racial justice in this country without justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and that is abundantly clear," Mr Sivaraman said. The commissioner said different ethnic groups could also be targeted in Australia during points of rupture in society. He pointed to the "bile" that was directed towards people of Asian heritage during the COVID-19 pandemic, and most recently, soaring levels of anti-Semitism and anti-Palestinian sentiment fuelled by the war in Gaza. The Australian Human Rights Commission will next week launch an online survey to ask university students and staff across the nation about experiences of racism. Mr Sivaraman said this would be done to get a "baseline" of prejudice at the nation's higher education institutions. The survey will be distributed via email by universities and participants will remain anonymous. Australia's race discrimination commissioner rejects the notion of "casual racism", warning prejudice is having a significant cost on the economy. "It's much more than skin deep, it can really scar you in on your soul," Giridharan Sivaraman told AAP. "It's in every aspect of our society." The commissioner said one way this manifested was in the workplace, with job hunters with Anglo-friendly names more likely to get a call back for a gig. People with qualifications from non-English speaking countries were more likely to be employed in jobs below their levels of experience, or in roles in entirely different fields. In an address to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, Mr Sivaraman will say Australia is at a "critical time" where a whole-of-government approach is needed to tackle racism. He will call on Labor to commit to the national anti-racism framework, handed down by the Australian Human Rights Commission last November. "It's the racism that's in our systems and institutions, it's stopping people from being able to thrive or simply be safe," he said ahead of his address. "Taking action against racism doesn't take anything from any person. It actually improves society for everyone." The commissioner said Australia needed to face the issue with "courage and honesty" as to why this keeps happening. "There needs to be fundamental change ... that's the real conversation that we should all be having," he said. Mr Sivaraman said the issue needed investment as opposed to the ad hoc and disjointed approaches from past governments. The voice to parliament referendum, held in October 2023, had led to an increase in discrimination and prejudice against Indigenous people, he added. "There can be no racial justice in this country without justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and that is abundantly clear," Mr Sivaraman said. The commissioner said different ethnic groups could also be targeted in Australia during points of rupture in society. He pointed to the "bile" that was directed towards people of Asian heritage during the COVID-19 pandemic, and most recently, soaring levels of anti-Semitism and anti-Palestinian sentiment fuelled by the war in Gaza. The Australian Human Rights Commission will next week launch an online survey to ask university students and staff across the nation about experiences of racism. Mr Sivaraman said this would be done to get a "baseline" of prejudice at the nation's higher education institutions. The survey will be distributed via email by universities and participants will remain anonymous.
