The notion that ‘skilled’ migration is required to overcome skills shortages is turning into another horrible rort, this time for accountants.
Back in July 2014, controversy arose after it was revealed that the former Abbott Government had chosen to keep accountants on a list of in-demand occupations for skilled migrants, going against the both the Department of Employment’s and the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency’s (AWPA) recommendations to remove accounting from this list due to significant labour surpluses and “deteriorating outcomes for graduates . . . relatively low pay rates for bachelor graduates and weak employment outcomes for masters graduates”.
It was understood at the time that universities, which derive income from international accounting students, and two of the major accounting bodies, which charge foreign accountants fees for membership and evaluating qualifications for migration, supported keeping the occupation on the list.
Today, The AFR has revealed that one of the key accounting bodies – the CPA – has been acting as a defacto migration agent for overseas accountants in return for charging membership fees:
CPA Australia is waiving charges to assess visa applications by foreigners if they agree to join the accountancy body…
A top accountant from Sri Lanka said that accountants overseas were joining CPA Australia because they thought it would help them get a visa even though they weren’t qualified to work in Australia…
Foreign accountants who ring a CPA hotline seeking information about Australian work visas are being told CPA Australia will waive their assessment fee of $520 if they join. Membership fees range from $144 to $720 depending on each member’s level of practice.
As a legally accredited migration assessment agency, CPA sets standards for accountants, accredits them and assesses the qualifications and work history of foreign accountants seeking to work in Australia…
This combined role has helped drive CPA’s growth overseas to the point where its foreign operations subsidise its Australian operations, according to its annual reports…
CPA Australia is launching a membership drive this month in Sri Lanka. Some foreign accountants believe that signing up will help them get Australian work visas… [But] “CPA Australia membership does not have any impact on migration status,” CPA Australia spokesperson Stuart Dignam said…
The CPA successfully lobbied to keep accountants among the occupations permitted visas under the 457 temporary skilled work scheme that will be replaced by the Temporary Skill Shortage scheme next year. Some local accounting graduates complain they can’t get jobs…
As shown in the table below, accountants are one of the heaviest users of skilled visas:
And this comes despite accounting being one of the areas with the biggest surplus of workers, according to the Department of Employment:
By choosing to ignore the advice of the independent AWPA (later disbanded by the Abbott Government) and the Department of Employment – which both believed that Australia has a surplus of accountants – and keeping accounting on the skills shortages list, the Coalition has placed the interests of universities and the major accounting bodies ahead of local accountants trying to get a job.
And by supporting the flooding of the accounting market with supply, the Naked CEO has been feathering his own $1.8m nest while deflating the income prospects of his members.
