The peak body for yoga teachers in Australia says the country has an oversupply of instructors despite a national skills body created by the government bending over backwards to put them on a migration list of needed occupations.
Jobs and Skills Australia has defended placing the wellness professionals on its draft core skills list, while continuing to consult on including several building trades critical for the housing crisis, telling a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday that migrants fared better in some industries than others.
Yoga teacher Beata Heymann says there is already an oversupply of teachers in the field, and said she had to encourage her students to “get creative”.Credit: Chris Hopkins
But Yoga Australia chief executive Josh Pryor said a surplus of instructors was stretching the industry and meant wages were being reduced as a result.
“It means that senior teachers are finding it harder to get jobs or gigs that recognise the level of experience that they have,” Pryor said, adding the industry had been vibrant in Australia for many years and was flexible enough not to rely on migration.
Beata Heymann, a Melbourne instructor who also trains budding teachers, agreed there was an oversupply, adding her students found it difficult to find work. “Often I’ll direct them to be creative and teach in a community where there’s a need,” she said.
Jobs and Skills Australia, created by the Albanese government to solve the nation’s skills shortages, has released three draft lists for occupations relating to a new core-skills migration stream: those it is confident should be on or off the list, and those requiring more consultation.
The statutory body has included yogis and martial artists on the roll call of occupations it is confident will make the list, which also includes electricians, carpenters and joiners, and civil engineers. But painters, roof tilers, stonemasons and other tradespeople needed to address the housing crisis are only targeted for consultation.
A Jobs and Skills Australia spokesperson said occupations identified as being confidently on the list “are supported by data that demonstrates strong outcomes for both migrant and domestic workers”.