Australia's state, territory treasurers want to ease skills shortage

The call has been made in a joint submission by the Board of Treasurers to the federal government and will be among the ideas to be considered by the Employment White Paper taskforce, which is due to report in September.

The submission is among more than 400 made to the taskforce that were released by the government on Saturday.

Net overseas migration is set to reach 350,000 people or more this financial year, 50 per cent more than forecast, federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.

The influx is expected to help ease the nation's skills shortage and strengthen the budget, but has also heightened concerns the new arrivals will compete with existing residents for scarce housing.

In their joint submission, the state and territory treasurers backed the lift in migration.

"Migration is integral to ensure Australia has the right skills to support our economy and drive future growth by easing critical skill and labour shortages," the submission said.

"It is particularly important to have highly-skilled migrants to support economic growth, boost wages for all Australians, and assist with budget repair."

The Board of Treasurers, chaired by ACT Chief Minister and Treasurer Andrew Barr, said difficulties and delays encountered by migrants, including recognition of skills and qualifications, problems obtaining partner visas and stringent visa conditions, were acting as disincentives for people considering moving to Australia.

The unemployment rate is at a near-50-year low of 3.5 per cent and employers report significantly problems filling vacancies, potentially impeding growth and investment. The Ai Group reported manufacturers were operating at a near record-high 79.6 per cent of capacity in March.

The Board of Treasurers said high-skilled migrants "can be particularly important in filling specialised roles in high demand and emerging areas, such as in advanced manufacturing, cyber security and climate change transition".

But the lift in migration is politically sensitive because it is occurring at a time of acute pressure in the housing market. Rental vacancy rates are very low and home building is expected to slow sharply in coming months, exacerbating the under-supply of new housing.

But boosting skilled migration was one of the key outcomes of last year's Jobs and Skills Summit. Following it the government lifted the migration cap to 195,000, providing $36 million to speed up visa processing, increase post-study work rights for graduates, temporarily relax work restrictions for international students and provide up to $575 million for social and affordable housing through the National Housing Infrastructure Facility.

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The Employment White Paper is intended to build on the Jobs and Skills Summit and set out ways to boost workforce participation, capacity and productivity.

"The Employment White Paper process is building on the success of the Jobs and Skills Summit, and the submissions we've received have been really encouraging," Dr Chalmers said.

The treasurer said although the government was unable to adopt every suggestion, "this feedback will help to shape the White Paper and the policies that we put in place as we look to build a bigger, better-trained, more productive workforce".