MIGRANT workers and changes to the 457 visa may hold the answer to shearing shortages in WA.
With the shearing industry still facing skill shortages to go with an ageing demographic and retention rate problems, the hope is the introduction of migrant workers similar to the fruit picking industry may fill some of the gaps in the industry during peak periods.
WA Shearing Industry Association (WASI) executive officer Vicki Gates said the industry had been liasing with Rural Skills Australia to get all of the shearing industry skills on the skills shortages list and to look into the possibility of introducing migrant workers into the industry.
WASI president and shearing contractor Darren Spencer believes the way the seasons work, most farmers were unable to move their shearing times.
"This means that shearing is no longer a year round profession," Mr Spencer said.
"Shearing happens between the peak periods of January to March and August to November so it's now extremely seasonal, making finding workers tougher.
"The issues the shearing industry is facing aren't just going to go away.
"Part of the solution could be with migrant labour similar to what the fruit picking industry is doing, bringing migrants in from the Pacific Islands to help during the critical times of the season."
Mr Spencer said even with his own business there was more interest from overseas workers than from Australians.
"I had an advert in the paper last week and I've had 10 Irish call me as well as a few other nationalities, and I have only had two Aussies call," he said.
Mr Spencer said during spring last year he had a number of Scottish shearers, who said there were many shearers in Scotland who wanted to come and shear in WA during peak periods.
"If they were able to do so it would open Australia up to becoming part of the international shearing circuit and many workers could follow," he said.
Mr Spencer believed the problem holding the majority of migrants back from being able to come to Australia and work was their ability to gain visas.
"If the government was able to remove some of the red tape surrounding obtaining a visa it would help solve some of the skills shortage in the shearing industry," he said.
"The 457 visa that is already available for migrants wanting to work in the shearing industry is inadequate because the work available is not continuous.
"If the Sate Government fixed the visa issue, places like South Africa could hold a huge untapped resource of shearers, and you certainly would have no issue with work ethic there."
Great Southern Institute of Technology wool industry co-ordinator Rob Cristenelli is involved with the WA shearing industry from a training and coaching point of view and agreed with Mr Spencer.
"Not a lot has changed in terms of the problems the shearing industry is facing," Mr Cristenelli said.
"Retention rates, skills shortages, and attracting young people into the industry are still issues.
"But I am unsure what the exact solution is because it's such a complex issue.
"Not only is the industry ageing, but the mining industry is having a huge affect, taking workers."
Mr Cristenelli believed Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) was doing its part by offering funding to train and up-skill workers, but the underlying issues affecting the industry were still there.
Like Mr Spencer, Mr Cristenelli believed that migrant workers may hold the short-term answer.
"The Government needs to make it easier for people to come over here and work in the industry," he said.
"They need to allow people who are from countries that have lots of sheep, such as Europe and South Africa, to be able to come over here and shear because it's such seasonal work.
"People are prepared to come out here for three to six months.
"We're not asking them to live here or buy houses or become citizens. It's just more of a short term thing and I believe that's where the answer is."
Mr Cristenelli believed there had been a lot of talk within the industry of bringing in people from the Philippines but said they would not be as well suited to working with sheep as people from a European or South African background.
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