• Charles Sturt researchers say Australia’s workforce shortages are driven by multiple factors, each requiring targeted solutions
• Structural barriers such as housing, childcare and training access must be addressed to ease workforce shortages in critical sectors including nursing, aged care and teaching

Workforce shortages in regional Australia will not be solved through recruitment alone, with a Charles Sturt University expert warning that structural barriers are preventing many communities from attracting and retaining the skilled workers they need.

Professor of Gender and Employment Relations in the Charles Sturt School of Business, Larissa Bamberry, says housing affordability, childcare availability, training access and employer capacity are increasingly driving regional workforce gaps.

According to Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), the occupations with the most shortages in regional Australia are nurses, GPs, aged care and disability support workers, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, teachers (particularly STEM and early childhood), engineers and agricultural scientists.

“Too often regional workforce challenges are framed as a problem of labour supply, of there not being enough skilled workers in particular fields,” Professor Bamberry said.

“The reality is that the barriers preventing skilled workers from moving to or staying in regional communities are often the same conditions needed to make regional life and work sustainable.”

JSA reports that recruitment conditions remain more difficult in regional Australia than in metropolitan areas, with regional employers receiving approximately half as many qualified applicants per vacancy as employers in cities.

Professor Bamberry said many employers are operating in regions where housing shortages, limited childcare places and barriers to education and training are restricting workforce growth.

Vacancy rates for rental properties in regional Australia remain low, and many cities and towns face shortages of both rental and owner-occupier properties. Population shifts from metropolitan areas since COVID, combined with limited new supply, have contributed to housing affordability challenges.

Childcare place shortages also limit regional workforce participation, with some early childhood education and care providers reporting waitlists of more than 100 families while operating below capacity because they could not recruit sufficient appropriately qualified staff.

“These are not separate issues from workforce development,” Professor Bamberry said.

“If workers cannot secure housing, find childcare or access training opportunities, employers will continue to face recruitment and retention challenges despite ongoing demand for staff.”

Professor Bamberry said there is a tendency to treat labour shortages, skill shortages and skills gaps as though they are the same issue.

“A labour shortage means there are not enough workers available. A skill shortage occurs when employers cannot find people with the qualifications or capabilities they need. A skills gap exists when current workers require additional training to meet changing job demands,” she said.

“These distinctions matter because each problem requires a different policy response. If we treat them as a single workforce issue, there is a risk that interventions will miss the mark.”

Professor Bamberry noted that diversity and inclusion should be viewed as an essential workforce strategy rather than a secondary consideration.

“Supporting migration pathways, improving gender equity and creating genuinely inclusive workplaces helps expand the talent pool available to regional employers,” Professor Bamberry said.

Professor Bamberry will deliver an online lecture titled ‘Building regional workforces that last’ as part of a Charles Sturt Faculty of Business, Justice and Behavioural Sciences video masterclass series starting in September.