UPDATE: Greater Whitsundays Designated Areas Migration Agreement (GW DAMA)

A collaboration of regional stakeholders (respective LGA’s, respective Mackay and Whitsundays Chambers of Commerce and RDA GW) over the past 12 months have been investigating the opportunities associated with the establishment of a Greater Whitsundays Designated Areas Migration Agreement (GW DAMA) to cover the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsundays local government areas. In 2023, the GW DAMA collaboration group completed a survey of some 2500 business in the region seeking to gauge business interest in the use of a DAMA and its services. To see the report that resulted from this survey, click here.

Investigations were slowed mid-2023 in response to the Federal Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon Clare O'Neil MP’s, announcement and implementation of a comprehensive review of Australia's migration system, to ensure it better meets existing challenges and sets a clear direction for the coming decades. The outcome of the review can be viewed in this report here. The Government considered the review’s findings to inform an outline of the Migration Strategy, released 11 December 2023, with a policy roadmap containing 8 key actions and over 25 new policy commitments and areas for future reform.

The Federal Government is now implementing many of the Migration Strategy reforms, and has subsequently put a halt on the development and submission/considerations of any new DAMA’s. Equally the collaboration of regional stakeholders leading the development of a potential GW DAMA are keen to ensure that any ongoing DAMA development considered by the region is in sync with new immigration policy and actions, which given they are still in development means any potential full delivery of a GW DAMA is on hold.

In the meantime, the collaboration of regional stakeholders leading the development of a potential GW DAMA are continuing to assess the operational and economic options and feasibility considerations of what we suspect will be required for the delivery of a GW DAMA.

 

Why interest in a regional DAMA?

Interest in a DAMA follows on from challenges in regional business, especially SMEs, in acquiring domestic national workforce for job positions in the region. The Greater Whitsundays region has for many years had more jobs than people and to date has not been strongly successful in acquiring the needed domestic workforce to the region.

 

What is a DAMA?

A DAMA is an agreement between the Commonwealth and a state/territory or regional body that provides:

  • A flexible, tailored response to a designated region’s local unique economic and labour market needs and conditions.

  • Solutions for Australian business where there are skills gaps and shortages that can’t be met by the Australian market.

  • Access to a broader range of overseas workers than available through the standard skilled visa programs.

  • Various negotiable concessions to the standard skilled visa requirements; and

  • Pathways to permanent residence as a major incentive to attract and retain overseas workers.

There are currently 12 DAMAs in place in Australia. For information on where and how they operate, as well as detailed information on DAMA’s, please visit the Department of Home Affairs website.

To learn more about the GW DAMA project, you can view our previous post on it here.

Further queries

Should you or your business require further information regarding the Greater Whitsundays Designated Area Migration Agreement Program (GW DAMA), please contact the RDA GW Project Manager Nic Willis.

Email: projectmanager@rdagw.org.au

Agribusiness, Agriculture, Economic Development, RDA ProjectsRebel NationMedia Release