Many Halls Gap businesses are struggling to keep their businesses running due to increased visitation and workforce shortages.
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Several business owners have signed a document pleading for help from both the federal and state governments to consider signing an agreement for the region to become a designated area for migration.
A designated area migration agreement is a formal agreement between the Australian government and a regional, state or territory authority.
It provides access to more overseas workers than the standard skilled migration program. DAMAs operate under an agreement-based framework, giving flexibility for regions to respond to their unique economic and labour market conditions.
Spirit of Punjab owner Gary Singh said his business had lost workers to other regions where the DAMA was in place.
"We are being crippled twice with workers," he said.
"Not only just the DAMA but in terms of visas as well. In 2022, Victoria only indicated they would take in 30 international workers as chefs. In New South Wales, that number is 3049.
"The Victorian government hasn't told the federal government the right number of chefs needed for the state."
Mr Singh said when he first moved to the region, there were plenty of workers in the region or backpackers willing to stay and work.
"Now businesses are telling the same story as me," he said.
"I've spoken to many people trying to find out where have all the workers gone. At the start of COVID, many workers didn't have their VISAs extended and were sent home. Now, they don't want to come back.
"They prefer to go to Canada or other countries like that."
Mr Singh said he believed the rules for workers to gain visas had become too strict.
"If we request we need a chef we get our figures and books checked to see if we really need one," he said.
"They go through all our business portfolio and build a case. Now there is a three-year experience clause on the visas for chefs.
"I have gone to migration agents and asked for help. They have told me they do not recommend people to come to Victoria because of the tough rules around visas compared to other states in Australia."
Mr Singh said he believed the unemployment rates were not a true reflection of the current situation within regional areas.
"As a country we are saying there are jobs everywhere but no one to fill it," he said.
"I've even come to the realisation I might not get a cook and am now looking for someone who isn't skilled and can serve food.
"I can train anyone. I can't get a dishwasher. I can't get anyone who wants to work within the region."
Halls Gap is the main tourist area of the Grampians region. In the 2016 census, 430 people lived in 3381 postcode.
According to the website victorianplaces.com.au/hallsgap, in peak tourist season, the number of people in the area grows to about 10,000.
Mr Singh said the pandemic had also increased housing and rental prices, making the region unattractive for skilled workers to move and work in Halls Gap.
Lakeside Tourist Park's Josephina McDonald said her business model of employing international workers was successful, and now the worker shortage only proved how successful it was.
"I have backpackers who have been with me for a long time and they've lost all hope on getting a visa so they are finishing their travels and going home," she said.
"I'm losing so many staff members because they are giving up full hope.
"I have one person left that really wants to stay and if we can get the DAMA here it will be straight access for her. But that's one person of 14 - it's nearly now too late."
Mrs McDonald said she offers housing to her workers, an additional cost to her business.
"I'm at my wits end and do not know what to do anymore," she said.
"We have no problems getting the customers here - we are just really struggling getting the workers.
"We are all doing ridiculous hours to the point staff want to leave because they are getting burnt out.
"People are also reflecting all their anger at us because of things that are out of our control."
Worker shortage in the region has hit an all-time low for the business owners, and Mr Singh shared that he is considering putting his business on the market or just shutting the doors.
"I've worked since December 20 until April - every day 14 hours a day," he said.
"It's enough. It's hurting my family. We can't do anymore.
"We've decreased the number of people we can seat in the restaurant.
"Something needs to change. I think everyone is over it. People are looking at ways to get out of business and it's not what we've worked hard to build our businesses up too."
Mrs McDonald said as a business owner, she understood she was under an obligation to work through solutions for her business.
"That's why I've jumped on board with Gary and really want to find a solution to ensure our beautiful town is thriving once again," she said.
"It's been a tough couple of years and I believe advocating to the government could give us a positive change we need."
While the DAMA is outside Member for Lowan Emma Kealy's scope, she said she was certainly doing all she could to advocate for changes at a state level that would support Halls Gap businesses to unlock the workforce it needs.
Ms Kealy spoke in parliament on March 9 and shared their concerns of Halls Gap businesses.
"My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Industry Support and Recovery, and the action that I am asking from the minister is that he apply for a greater allocation of 491 skilled work regional visas and match the allocation that New South Wales has-this is a process that is done by application to the federal government-to make sure that we can access an appropriate number of skilled migrant workers to access work and fill our jobs in regional Victoria," she said.
"We have got a number of job vacancies right throughout regional Victoria and throughout my electorate.
"What we find is our employment issue is not that we have not got jobs to go around; we actually have not got enough people to fill the job vacancies that are available.
"I have recently received a petition actually from a number of businesses in the Halls Gap region. Halls Gap is a small community. There are about 650 permanent residents, and they really do rely on the international travellers coming through to fill particularly the hospitality shifts but also to provide those day-to-day things to support their tourism industry, whether it is the cleaners that we might need or by running accommodation or even some of the tours that are done through the region. They just rely so heavily on backpackers, and we simply have not had those international visitors during the COVID pandemic with the borders being closed."
Ms Kealy said while those border closures were being lifted, regional Victoria still have not seen the number of people coming through and visiting Halls Gap that the Halls Gap community need to be able to fill all of the jobs and give people a good tourist experience when they come to town.
"There is nothing worse, and I think that really the business owners feel like they are letting down the tourism community when they are not able to serve enough people," she said.
"There are complaints arising from it-people become very agitated if they cannot get a meal locally-and they feel like it reflects badly not just on their own business but on the entire community.
"I have also had similar concerns raised by hospitals in my region, Casterton Memorial Hospital and also West Wimmera Health Service, where they simply have not been able to support international staff who have come to Australia because the state has run out of the 491 visas to allocate to these workers.
"Just for comparison's sake, Victoria has 500 visas it can allocate per year. This is about 4 per cent of the total number of 491 visas available across the nation, and if you compare that with New South Wales, they have got an allocation of 3640 491 visas-that is 29 per cent. As I said, this is around a process of the state stepping up and making representation to the federal government and asking for those visas, so that is what I am asking the minister to do. I am asking him to acknowledge there is a real skills shortage in regional Victoria. Those businesses in Halls Gap are really struggling to fill these jobs."
Ms Kealy said she was still awaiting for a response from the Minister for Industry Support and Recovery.