Momentum grows for Great Southern Designated Area Migration Agreement

All 11 local governments in the Great Southern have backed a plan to open up the region for targeted migration in order to alleviate worker shortages. A Designated Area Migration Agreement for the region would allow employers in the Great Southern to fill job vacancies with migrant workers if they have been unable to fill the positions by advertising locally. It would mean greater and more targeted access to skilled migration compared to what is available through standard skilled migration. The region’s need for additional workers must be demonstrated through a business plan in order to secure a DAMA. Regional Development Australia Great Southern director Simon Lyas told the Advertiser his organisation would put together the plan if all 11 local governments indicated their financial support. He said he expected a successful application would take between six to eight months to complete at a cost of about $100,000. A proposed funding model to cover the costs of compiling the business plan indicated RDA and the Great Southern Development Commission would each commit $10,000. The remaining $80,000 would be covered by the 11 local government areas relative to their population sizes. The model suggests the City of Albany would contribute $40,000 to the business plan costs. It is the only local government yet to make an official commitment, but a spokeswoman for the City said it was supportive of a DAMA and was “interested in learning more about being involved”. “The City is working closely with (the RDA) as the lead organisation to gather the information needed to progress the development of a DAMA, as well as an item to council,” she said. The shires of Denmark, Plantagenet and Kojonup each agreed to commit up to $10,000 to fund the business plan. The three councils all chose to commit an amount higher than what had been proposed in the model presented to each shire. The proposed commitment for Denmark and Plantagenet was $8000, while for Kojonup — which put forward the DAMA at the June meeting of the Great Southern Country Zone WA Local Government Association — had been asked for a $5000 commitment. Speaking at his shire’s council meeting this month, Shire of Plantagenet chief executive Cameron Woods said allocating more funding than what had been proposed gave the shire room to negotiate. “We’ve all discussed how important this would be for the region and we’d hate to see it knocked back,” he said. “There were some concerns about (the commitment of) some of the smaller local governments who only have 400 or 500 people. “The extra $2000 was to give RDA a bit of a wider scope and wriggle room so that there’s less chance it needs to come back to council.” The shires of Katanning, Broomhill-Tambellup, Jerramungup, Cranbrook, Kent and Woodanilling all committed funding equal to the amount in the model. Shire of Gnowangerup chief executive Bob Jarvis confirmed his shire had advised WALGA it supported a DAMA and that its position would be ratified at its upcoming council meeting on August 24. The local governments were asked to report back to the zone executive by Wednesday ahead of the next scheduled zone meeting on August 26. There are 12 active DAMAs in place across Australia, four of which are in WA.