industry critical occupations
An Industry Critical Occupation is a skilled occupation that is in critical demand (ie crucial to industry operations, growth and development, and/or could seriously harm business viability if not addressed).
For a list of industry critical occupations as identified in the FutureNow - Creative and Leisure Industries Training Council Workforce Development Plan, click here.
What is the State priority occupation list (SPOL)?
The State priority occupation list is an annually produced list of jobs that are in high demand or considered industry-critical in Western Australia.
You can download the list here.
Why do we have a State priority occupation list?
The list will inform Western Australian workforce development planning, the skilled migration occupation list and the development of the State Training Plan, which guides the funding of training programs.
Who produces the list?
The Department of Training and Workforce Development produces the list in consultation with key stakeholders including the State's ten Training Councils.
How is the list produced?
The Department of Training and Workforce Development conducts extensive economic and labour market research and analysis at an industry and occupational level to determine the State's priority occupations. This work is supplemented by intelligence provided by industry, facilitated through the State Training Board's Training Council network.
Training Councils provide strategic advice on occupations considered to be experiencing skill shortages or are critical to their industry, based on research and consultation with industry.
The Department also undertakes an analysis of professional occupations, requiring higher education qualifications, to determine the high demand occupations.
The occupations are compiled into a list, which is cross-referenced against a number of skill shortages and migration-related lists, including the:
- Western Australian occupations in demand list;
- Australian Government skilled occupation list;
- Australian Government State and Territory skilled occupation list; and
- Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workforce Relations (DEEWR) skill shortages list.
The complete list is then validated and assessed by the Department, in consultation with each Training Council, against a series of indicators. These indicators include:
- current and forecast levels of employment growth within the specified occupations;
- average weekly earnings and wages growth;
- average age of existing employees across the occupation in Western Australia;
- the level of turnover of staff within the occupation; and
- current levels of training supply.
Based on the analysis of the above indicators, occupations with both vocational and higher education qualifications are categorised by the Department and Training Councils on a consensus basis as a Top Priority, High Priority or Priority occupation.
The list is presented with the official occupation title in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations code used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
What are Top Priority, High Priority and Priority occupations?
Top Priority occupations are characterised by a combination of one or more of the following factors:
- very large levels of employment;
- high forecast growth and evident wage pressures;
- high levels of skill;
- longer education or training lead times;
- clear education and training pathways; and/or
- a clear and evident skills shortage.
High Priority occupations are characterised by:
- notable levels of employment;
- medium levels of skill;
- average training lead times;
- clear training pathways; and/or
- emerging evident skills or labour shortages or industry-related issues related to workforce development.
Priority occupations are characterised by:
- generally smaller employment sizes;
- low or negative employment growth;
- lower required levels of skill and training requirements; and/or
- evident non-training related industry issues which are contributing to labour shortages.
The Western Australian Skilled Migration Occupation List
The Department of Training and Workforce Development has released the Western Australian Skilled Migration Occupation List (WASMOL)
Developed as the central element of Western Australia's State Migration Plan, the WASMOL will assist Western Australia to meet the State's labour market needs through the sponsorship of qualifying visa applicants.
The list identifies the occupations that Skilled Migration Western Australia will consider for State sponsorship.
View the WASMOL to see if you are eligible to apply for State sponsorship.