The recent decision by the Australian Government not to include catering on its Skilled Occupation List (SOL) seems set to hinder the country’s catering industry.

Having a place on the SOL means that the discipline is highly valued and ensures permanent residency (PR) for students and employees in Australia. If culinary courses are no longer able to offer international students PR, then the catering industry will lose significant elements of its workforce.

Restaurant and Catering Australia (RCA) CEO John Hart said “Our industry relies heavily on overseas workers. We believe we will see a downturn in the number of workers in the order of thousands”. The RCA has 7,500 members and represents over 70 per cent of the industry’s workforce.

In May this year, the number of highly skilled occupations listed in the SOL was reduced from just over 400 to 181. Those omitted from the list included many vocational industries.

Australia is well-known for its multicultural cuisine, with its wide proving popular amongst the many tourists visiting every year. The Australian restaurant and catering industry generated over AU$ 28 billion for the Australian economy in 2008 alone.

The news is particularly bad for the large number of Indian immigrants who have settled after working as chefs and waiters in the country. With over 40,000 restaurants, cafes and caterers in Australia, the opportunities have been significant for migrant workers. Hart said that he estimated “that 22,500 of the workers are from overseas”.

Posted by Matt on the 27th May 2010