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Australian immigrants have been pre-interviewed as part of a major recruitment drive by local councils.
10 March 2010
Australian migrants pre-interviewed for mining positions
Australian local governments have been pre-interviewing hundreds of foreign workers to fill vacancies in the accelerating mining boom in Western Australia.
Local governments in Western Australia have faced difficulties in recruiting and maintaining workers due to “poaching” from the State Government and the mining industry, Western Australia Local Government Association president Bill Mitchell said.
Mr Mitchell said the association was forced into an international recruitment drive and had completed job, credit and police reference checks for a pool of immigrant workers from South Africa, England and New Zealand.
The candidates are for a variety of future council jobs, including positions in accounting, planning and surveying.
The state is expecting another mining boom next year that could create even bigger labour shortages across the state.
The Western Australia Local Government Association has already used the subclass 457 Australian Visa to fill about 50 local government positions with foreign workers, and the pre- interviews had led to a pool of 50 to 150 candidates from each of the three countries.
The Australian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people lodge their Australian Immigration applications with the Australian High Commission.
