Business bulletin: 24 March 2022

Changes to the Northern Territory Designated Area Migration Agreement (NT DAMA) will better support Territory businesses address critical workforce shortages.

Under the updated NT DAMA an increased annual ceiling will enable employers to fill up to 625 vacant positions per year with overseas workers.

Other key changes include:

• a more streamlined framework that enables Territory employers to access workers over a 5 year period rather than having to re-apply each year
• a more flexible permanent resident pathway
• 24 new occupations including some lower skilled occupations in the agriculture, aquaculture and meat industries
• more flexible skills and work experience requirements for overseas workers
• higher age threshold for sponsored overseas workers
• a lower English language threshold for trade occupations and,
• the ability for employers to nominate workers under the new 5 year Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional Visa subclass 494.

The updated NT DAMA provides Territory employers with access to 124 skilled and semi-skilled occupations identified to be in critical skill shortage.

Employers now have the ability to nominate workers under the new Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional Visa subclass 494. This provides employees with a 5 year visa with a pathway to permanent residency after living and working in the Territory for 3 years.

Flexibilities built into the new settings will also enable broader cohorts of overseas workers to work in the Territory and obtain permanent visas. These cohorts include tradespeople who are sponsored by Territory businesses on other temporary visa programs, but do not meet the standard English language requirements for existing permanent pathways.

Employers will need to demonstrate they are unable to employ a suitably skilled and experienced Territorian or Australian to fill the position before they can access the NT DAMA.

Read more about the NT DAMA.

Businesses wanting to know more about the DAMA can call the MigrationNT team on 08 8999 5264 or email migration@nt.gov.au.

Businesses experiencing workforce shortages can now register to participate in the Work, Stay, Play program to attract workers to relocate to the Territory.

The program has been expanded to support employers across all industries experiencing critical skill shortages, such as construction, aged care, retail, hospitality and tourism.

Eligible businesses can apply for a one-off payment of $1,000 for each new employee which will support longer, full-time employment in all sectors.

The incentive is flexible, allowing each business to tailor their own recruitment packages to suit potential employees.

This incentive is part of the Northern Territory Government’s $12.8 million workforce package, designed to fill critical skill shortages and attract people to live and work in the Territory.

Businesses must be registered to participate in the Work, Stay, Play program.

Applications for eligible workers can be lodged from 9am on 2 May 2022.

National and international workers who are looking for a change are encouraged to #movetotheTerritory as part of a new global worker attraction campaign.

The campaign has been developed to help the Territory grow a skilled and capable workforce that meets business and community needs now and into the future.

The campaign will target skilled and semi-skilled workers aged 18 to 55 years in Australia, New Zealand, London, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Italy, Vietnam, South Africa, Taiwan, Indonesia, Columbia, Brazil and Ireland.

A range of digital marketing tactics will be used on social media, YouTube, broadcaster video-on-demand, cinema screens, large format billboards and programmatic digital channels in the target locations

The Territory Government has also partnered with recruitment platforms Seek, CareerOne and Indeed to drive job seekers to vacancies based in the Northern Territory.

Territory businesses can get involved by:

• loading jobs onto recruitment platforms such as Seek, CareerOne or Indeed
• downloading the industry toolkit and raising awareness about opportunities for moving to the Territory for work
• sharing jobs on social media using #movetotheTerritory

View the Northern Territory global worker attraction campaign at the The Territory website.

Do you know a Territorian, business or training provider that has demonstrated excellence within the vocational education and training sector?

Nominate them today for the 2022 Northern Territory Training Awards.

The awards, which are now in their 65^th year celebrate the Territory’s best and brightest students, apprentices, trainees, teachers, trainers, training providers and employers.

Last year, eligible NT Training Award winners proudly represented the Territory on the national stage at the Australian Training Awards. The Australian Training Awards are the peak national awards that showcase best practice in vocational education and training.

Nhulunbuy electrical apprentice, Savanne Canobie, was named the Australian Apprentice of the Year, while Taminmin College was named the Australian Small Training Provider of the Year.

Savanne explained that her training has enabled her to become a lifelong learner and it has given her confidence to achieve.

“I want to change the stigma about females in male dominated industries and gender specific roles.”

“To me being a training ambassador means I get to be a role model to inspire younger generations coming through, and telling them VET is a number one option when they leave school. There is something out there for everybody”, said Savanne.

There are 12 award categories; comprising of 7 individual and 5 business categories.

Individual categories

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year
• Austin Asche Apprentice of the Year
• School-based Apprentice or Trainee of the Year
• Trainee of the Year
• VET in Schools Student of the Year
• VET Teacher/Trainer of the Year
• Vocational Student of the Year

Business categories

• Industry Collaboration Award
• Small Training Provider of the Year
• Large Training Provider of the Year
• Small Employer of the Year
• Large Employer of the Year

Nominations close at 12pm on Friday 20 May 2022.

To nominate and view the eligibility criteria, read about the NT Training Awards.

The release of a new business innovation strategy will support the creation of more local jobs, unlock future investment and grow the Territory economy.

The Territory Business Innovation Strategy 2.0 outlines how the Territory Government will develop a $4 billion innovation ecosystem, creating a strong network of businesses and organisations that will evolve around a shared set of technologies, knowledge and skills.

The renewed strategy is designed to deliver more for Territory businesses, industry and investors to maximise value for the Territory.

The Territory Business Innovation Strategy 2.0 key priorities are to:

• accelerate commercialisation of innovation in the Territory
• activate our innovation ecosystem
• advance public sector innovation; and
• amplify the role of science.

Under the strategy, a suite of programs and initiatives will be rolled out to support Territory SMEs to develop and implement innovation.

This includes updating existing programs to better help businesses attract new investment, accelerate growth and commercialise into export markets.

There will also be a range of new initiatives that foster greater collaboration between business, industry and government to attract investment into the Territory.

To find out more about the Territory Business Innovation Strategy 2.0, go to the Innovation website.