Broken skills recognition system sidelining 340,000 migrant and refugee women as productivity crisis deepens

More than 340,000 migrant and refugee women are working below their skill level, held back from working in their professions by costly, confusing and gendered processes for recognising their skills and qualifications, according to the Activate Australia’s Skills campaign.

The report, Activate Her Skills: Harnessing the economic potential of migrant women through better skills recognition, developed by SSI and the Australian Multicultural Women’s Alliance as part of the Activate Australia’s Skills campaign, argues urgent skills recognition reform is needed to address the industrial-scale waste of talent across Australia’s workforce.

Violet Roumeliotis, CEO of SSI which convenes the campaign, said, “If more than 340,000 migrant and refugee women were able to work in their professions, it would deliver an immediate productivity boost for Australia and help ease critical workforce shortages in sectors such as healthcare, construction and teaching.

“We have hundreds of thousands of qualified, capable women who want to work in the jobs they trained for, but are being blocked by barriers unrelated to their capability – excessive fees, slow and rigid processes, and a lack of transparency and accountability.

“These barriers disproportionately affect migrant women, who are 20 per cent more likely to work below their skill level than migrant men.

“At a time when industries like health, construction and teaching face chronic skills shortages, we urgently need to make skills recognition faster, fairer and more affordable so qualified women are not left on the sidelines. This is a ready-made reform that strengthen the economy and benefit everyone.”

Malini Raj, Executive Director of the Australian Multicultural Women’s Alliance, which co-authored the report, said the report uncovered deeply gendered barriers embed within the current skills recognition system.

“What came through very clearly in our research is that this is not a skills gap issue for migrant women – it is a recognition gap.

“What appears neutral in design is producing deeply gendered outcomes in practice. Skills recognition processes often assume an “unencumbered worker” — someone who can afford high exam fees, is available for long and inflexible assessments, has not had career breaks, and is able to retrain full-time if needed,” Ms Raj said.

“This model does not match the lived realities of many migrant and refugee women, particularly those balancing care responsibilities and insecure work.”

The report highlights major skills recognition barriers based on a national survey of 64 migrant and refugee women:

• 59% said time delays were a major barrier
• 56% said cost was a major barrier
• 37% identified rigid, paperwork-heavy processes as a major barrier
• 27% said pathways were confusing and unclear

The full report is available to read here.

The Activate Australia’s Skills campaign is calling for key skills recognition reforms:    

• Establish one national governance system for all overseas skills and qualifications recognition, including an Ombudsman with regulatory power to provide independent oversight and transparency.    
• Create a more joined-up system that links skills recognition for migration purposes with licensing and accreditation for employment purposes.   
• Provide financial support for individuals to remove cost barriers and an online portal with all the information so people know what they need to do.   
• Set up Migrant Employment Pathway Hubs with skills recognition navigators to get qualified people working in their professions again.