There are lots of jobs in regional Australia but the Pilbara faces greater challenges to attract city dwellers

There’s no shortage of regional jobs in Australia but the Pilbara faces greater challenges to attract workers compared to other places in the country, according to experts. A recent report by the Regional Australia Insitute showed that regional job vacancies in Australia had increased 6 per cent from 2022 with 91,000 jobs now available. However, Regional Development Australia (Pilbara) chief executive Tony Simpson warned that the pull factors that attracted workers to the regions in other parts of the country, such as a lower cost of living and cheaper housing, did not exist in the Pilbara. “Our house prices are not far off what they are in Perth if not more,” he said. “It does mean it’s harder to attract and harder to retain. “The Pilbara does offer a good lifestyle if you enjoy the outdoors, there are great opportunities for advancement in terms of your job opportunities and you can get great skills up here. “But it’s not without its challenges.” RAI data shows that 2507 job vacancies were advertised in the Pilbara and the Kimberley in May with engineers and automotive workers the most in-demand at 327 vacancies. The median house price in Port Hedland is $725 000 and the median rental price is $1100 a week, according to data from REIWA. In Perth, the median house price is $552, 000 and the median rental costs $575 a week. Mr Simpson said that the often touted low cost of living and housing in regional Australia is more relevant to the east coast. “I think it’s more slanted towards an Eastern States base where a lot more of the population live inland and the properties are cheaper.” Economist Dr Michael Dockery said that there were numerous other factors that prevented people from moving to the Pilbara besides the high cost of housing as well. “Clearly a lot of people prefer FIFO arrangements over actually relocating to the Pilbara,” he said. “It’s one thing for people to say they would consider potentially moving for a higher salary, actually deciding to move once all the costs and benefits are weighed up is another thing altogether. “An important factor here is that workers, and particularly more educated workers, really value high-quality services when they make location decisions, like health services, education, and cultural industries. “For families with children, access to quality schooling is critical, and generally the capital cities have an advantage on these amenities.” Dr Dockery said that a large flow of workers to the already under-stress Pilbara housing market might exacerbate the issue. “If you had a flow of workers of that sort of magnitude, the situation would only get worse,” he said. “Stamp duty is another real problem — it’s essentially a tax on efficient economic and labour market adjustment.” ABS data indicates that there are 430,000 job vacancies in Australia, RAI figures would mean that 21 per cent of all vacancies are in regional areas.