Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Transport, Roads and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity as the shadow minister for transport, roads and tourism to speak in the Main Committee on what I regard as an important report, entitled Current vacancies: workforce challenges facing the Australian tourism sector. I thought it would also have been appropriate if the Minister for Small Business and Tourism had found time to attend the Main Committee to compliment the committee on an exceptionally good job. It is a much-needed report. I know she is a very busy woman, planning her next overseas trip.

As we all appreciate, the work of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Workplace Relations and Workforce Participation, with the assistance of the secretariat, is exceptionally important to the tourism industry. A huge amount of work has been undertaken by the committee and the secretariat in pulling together all of the evidence and the associated material received by the committee over an extended period. On behalf of the opposition, I can simply say that we welcome the report, and we will be having considerable regard for its recommendations. I say that because I think it is fair to say that the time-honoured image of Australia’s tourism sector as a fun-loving, easygoing industry to work in, with parties at every turn, has been hardened in recent years. There is a huge challenge confronting the industry.

Much like the industry itself, the tourism market force has undergone significant change that adapts to radically changing global trends both within and outside the tourism industry. Labour shortages have emerged as a key factor affecting the future growth and viability of Australia as skilled workers become a rare resource. Australia’s $81 billion tourism industry is not immune to this trend. If anything, it has felt the effects more acutely. It is a people focused industry with high service standards and requirements and consequently demanding labour requirements. Yet, unfortunately, as a sector it is struggling to maintain competitiveness with other sectors which have the capacity to offer higher wages and better conditions, such as the provision of housing in the resources sector. Bus tour drivers who have a heavy vehicle licence are being lured over to the mining sector where, without any need to upskill, they are offered three times the wage they earn in tourism. The same goes for young people starting out in life. Why not work in the mines on a fly in, fly out basis and earn at least twice as much as they can in hospitality, without having to deal with the poor image associated with the tourism sector? That is also a key issue addressed by this report.

Unfortunately, while tourism from a tourism perspective is an industry defined by new and enjoyable experiences, relaxing holidays by the beach or exciting adventure tours, it is characterised in a less than glamorous way for the actual workers in the tourism businesses. As the committee found, the reputation of the tourism industry is that it is an industry of hard work, bad conditions and relatively low pay. This is a point not disputed by the operators, employer representatives or employee representatives who gave extensive evidence during the work of the committee.

I might say that it is a trend that has been exacerbated by the Work Choices legislation, as admitted in evidence by the hotels and motels association, an employer organisation. The organisation indicated to the committee that there were regular breaches of employment law and nonadherence to award conditions, unfortunately, in parts of the industry. I say this is a shame because there are a lot of good tourism businesses out there seeking to do the right thing by their workforce and the industry at large, many of them small to medium sized operators, who believe in the work of the sector and want to realise its potential by pulling together.

This report appropriately outlines that there is a role for everyone to play in helping the industry to address the serious issues, and the tourism business operators and industry as a whole are no exception. I do not think we need to suggest that operators and the industry as a whole do not know the requirements that are ahead of them. You do not need to have a master’s degree in marketing and brand development to know that the tourism industry has a serious image problem when it comes to employment options for our young people. There is a widespread perception in the Australian community that employment in the tourism sector is not the start of a career path, but rather it is the job that you have as you pass through to where you want to end up with a career option—short-term employment to earn a few dollars on the way through.

This disappointing fact is reflected in the high turnover rates of staff within the hotel industry, which is an additional cost to industry. The Sustainable Tourism CRC noted in its submission to the committee that turnover rates were between 39 and 84 per cent, depending on the level of the role. The CRC also found that the main reason for the employers’ turnover were low pay, poor working hours and the need to search for better career opportunities. It is a disappointing fact, because the tourism industry is an industry where you can work your way up through a career path if you are prepared to stick to it. It can be a very rewarding career path and it can fulfil all the requirements of meaningful and stimulating work.

The industry therefore needs to get out there as a matter of urgency and celebrate its success with stories about its success. While the sector is made up primarily of small to medium sized businesses, they are businesses that all face the same challenges yet are driven by the same goals of increasing not only numbers on the ground but tourism yield while maintaining a high product and quality product standard. This provides the sector with a unique opportunity to come together and for a collaborative approach to training and skilling to ensure the future viability of the industry.

Unfortunately, the industry currently lacks coordination in several key areas—an issue that was brought to the fore through the committee’s work, which noted that opportunities in training were being missed. These opportunities include looking beyond just young people as the traditional pool of workers. There are vast opportunities to be seized in encouraging more mature age workers in tourism, particularly those already travelling that are commonly known as the grey-haired nomads. Opportunities also abound in employment of Indigenous Australians, and this comes with the double benefit of realising the massive growth potential of Indigenous tourism in Australia. I, therefore, wholeheartedly support the recommendation of the committee to support the identification of barriers to the employment of older workers and an inquiry into the opportunities for Indigenous tourism growth and associated employment and, more importantly, training opportunities. It is one of the many common-sense recommendations to arise from the report.

Another is recommendation 11, which would enable overseas tourism and hospitality students to extend their visas by up to two years once they have successfully completed their tertiary courses. They must be courses of some standing and significance and they must have undertaken an appropriate level of work placement as part of their course completion and training program. However, while I fully support this initiative, I do have some reservations about offering the option of moving into the permanent migration scheme after the completion of two years continuous employment. Those reservations relate to a pilot trial to fill vacancies in the hairdressing field. On all available evidence, this is a trial that is not working. The trends today see participants move out of the area of demand, in hairdressing, once their permanent residency status has been approved. We want people who actually take up these opportunities to give a commitment to long-term employment in the tourism sector, especially in rural, remote and regional Australia, and not to use it as an easy entry point to Australia for short-term visas and appropriate long-term migration opportunities.

I do not believe that this option will therefore solve the industry’s labour requirements. The industry has to refocus and re-engage the Australian workforce and, in doing so, improve its retention rates, better train its workers and overcome some of the turnover costs associated with the industry. Having said that, can I say that the report includes many common-sense recommendations, including a better plan for the future of the industry, better research and willingness by all in the industry—all levels of government, the private sector employees and their unions—to actively work together to overcome the challenges identified in the report. In the meantime, as an interim measure, I implore everyone in Australia, including businesses, to better manage their workforce and to encourage the Australian workforce to have a holiday and reduce the huge liability that currently exists in business for accumulated annual leave and long service leave. This can do an exceptionally big favour to the tourism industry, because we are very sluggish on the domestic tourism front. I commend the report to the House.

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