NT campaign to lure International workers

DARWIN, AAP – The Northern Territory is rolling out the red carpet to international workers to help fill critical labour shortages.

A new global advertising campaign will launch on March 24 in a bid to lure skilled and semi-skilled workers to the territory.

The automotive, hospitality, education, aged care and disability services sectors desperately need workers, Minister Jobs and Training Paul Kirby says.

There are also vacancies in the health, construction, manufacturing veterinary services fields, he said.

The campaign is part of a $12.8 million workforce package to target workers aged 18 to 55 years.

It will feature Territorians that have moved to the NT for work and stayed for the lifestyle.

Adverts will appear on social media, YouTube, cinema screens, large format billboards and television.

Workers will be targeted in New Zealand, the UK, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Italy, Vietnam, South Africa, Taiwan, Indonesia, Colombia, Brazil and Australia.

The campaign will run along side the Work Stay Play program, which will restart on May 2 to help employers attract interstate workers.

Businesses can apply for $1000 in subsidies to help workers relocate to jobs in areas such as the construction, aged care, hospitality and tourism sectors.

It comes as 150 workers from Fiji and Timor-Leste get set to travel to Darwin and Alice Springs over the next two months.

They will work in tourism, hospitality, aged care, disability and agriculture businesses through the federal government’s Pacific Australia Labour Mobility Scheme.

The NT’s unemployment rate fell by 0.4 per cent to 3.8 per cent in January, which are the most recent publicly available figures.

It is the third lowest seasonally adjusted rate in the country, equal with Tasmania and behind Western Australia and the ACT.

The national unemployment rate for the same month is 4.2 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Meanwhile, the NT government hopes a new $3 million housing subsidy scheme will reduce rental stress for essential workers.

Under Rent Choice eligible workers can lease a private house and get a subsidy of up to $12,000 over 12 months depending upon their income, household size and location.

Workers in Greater Darwin, Palmerston, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs who are employed in the health, human services, hospitality, automotive, construction and transport and logistics sectors can apply.

Rental markets remain tight across the territory with a 0.9 per cent vacancy rate in Darwin, according to the National Australia Bank.