Warrnambool council applies to extend DAMA program for five more years

The council has this week applied for a five-year extension of its successful migration program as the region continues to struggle to fill workforce shortages.

For the second year in a row, the council-run program has reached its annual ceiling of bringing in 100 workers.

With the need for more skilled migrants to fill the workforce gap, the council wants to lift that annual cap from 100 to 300.

It is also hoping to increase the number of occupations that come under the migration program.

Cr Angie Paspaliaris said it was encouraging the council was preparing a business case to renew the Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA) for another five years.

She said it inferred a level of success for the agreement and also a demand for it to continue.

Warrnambool's council has a DAMA agreement with the Australian government to provide the south-west region with access to more overseas skilled workers than the standard skilled migration program.

A council spokesman said this week it had applied for a further five-year agreement through the Department of Home Affairs.

The current agreement is due to expire at the end of March 2024.

"The application includes requests to increase the annual allocation of endorsed workers from 100 to 300 and the number of occupations to grow from 38 to 123 after industry consultation across the region involving all six local government areas in the DAMA region," he said.

"For the second year in a row the program will reach the annual ceiling of 100 endorsed workers."

He said occupations available through the agreement were not available under other visa programs, and most importantly offered a pathway to residency which was not always available through other visa programs.

Extra categories of workers the council hopes to add to the list include agriculture, hospitality, aged care and tourism - all areas which struggle to attract staff.

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