News Updates

Demand and supply of accountants

Speculation is rampant regarding the inclusions of Accountants on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) when the Department of Immigration and Border Protection release their new SOL on 1 July 2015. In fact on 12 November 2014 the Australian Financial Review announced that Accountants had been removed from the SOL for the 2015 program year. This report was rapidly debunked by the Migration Institute of Migration.

As indicated below, the number of places available to Accountants has been reduced in the 2014 program year, which could well result in the cessation of invitations being offered to Accountants once these places have been filled. However the future inclusion of Accountants on the SOL remains in doubt, and we advise that Accountants planning on migrating to Australia should do so sooner rather than later.

According to the Australian Workplace and Productivity Agency “A strong accounting workforce is vital to a strong economy. For this reason, it is essential that the supply of suitably qualified Accountants is sufficient to meet industry demand.

The Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency’s Demand and supply of Accountants –March 2014 report examines this issue and the role of skilled migration in meeting industry demand in the report. The report also examines whether the inclusion of Accountants on the Australian Government’s 2014 Skilled Occupation List (SOL) will assist in meeting the medium to long-term skill needs of the Australian economy. It informed AWPA’s advice to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection on the 2014 SOL.

The Demand and Supply of Accountants report finds that although the accounting workforce will benefit from skilled independent migration, the number of migrant Accountants required is likely to be less than recent historical levels. Accordingly the report recommends that Accountants be included on the 2014 SOL, but also recommends the occupational ceiling on the number of skilled independent migrant Accountants be reduced from its pre-2014 SOL level of 6.0 per cent to 3.0 per cent of the total number of employed Accountants. Subject to such a reduction in the occupational ceiling, the report also recommends removing Accountants from AWPA’s list of ‘flagged’ occupations.

AWPA presented a draft of this report to key industry stakeholders as part of its 2014 SOL development process. Feedback received was taken into account in finalising the report.  

This report was finalised in March 2014 as part of AWPA’s suite of information relating to the development of its advice on the 2014 SOL.”

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Speak to a Australian Migration Specialists Consultant Michelle Oztas: +27 11 783 9440

Speak to a Australian Migration Specialists Consultant Tracey Lawrence: +27 82 419 3696

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