The processing of 57,906 permanent visas applications by overseas skilled workers, including those involved in aged care, will be fast-tracked.

Clare O’Neill, Minister for Home Affairs, said the plan was to prioritise the occupations most wanted.

“There are some areas where we have an acute national need. So, areas like our health workers, nurses, aged care workers, teaching. These are areas which are a pivotal priority for us,” she told the ABC.

“So, we will continue to process applications across the economy, but we do need to address this really urgent need in particular for health care workers.”

Independent thinktank Committee for Economic Development of Australia last month estimated that the shortage of direct aged care workers is around 30,000 to 35,000 and job search engine SEEK last night had 33,696 ‘aged care’ jobs available across the nation.

In addition, Labor pledged to have a registered nurse in every aged care facility at all times by mid-next year and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Labor would attract doctors and nurses from overseas as a stopgap measure to shore up the system.

Ms O’Neill said migration was only part of the solution to solving the staff shortages. The Government is holding a jobs summit for two days from 1 September with the country at record-low unemployment.

Registered Nurses specialising in aged care have been listed on the Department’s Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List since 2020.