Australian teenagers as young as 13-years-old should be used to fill massive labour shortages, according to a retail industry body.
The Australian Retailers Association is calling for teenagers to fill critical labour shortages in both the retail and hospitality industries. Photo: 123RF
At the moment, different states have different rules about what age is ok to be in paid work.
But the Australian Retailers Association reckons a nationwide agreement could unlock access to young keen workers and plug massive staffing gaps.
Australian Retailers Association chief industry affairs Fleur Brown officer told Checkpoint the retail industry was facing an "acute crisis" and urgent solutions were needed.
One of the solutions the association floated was opening employment opportunities to 200,000 teenagers between 13 and 15-years-old, who Brown said would be "perfect" for frontline retail and hospitality jobs.
"Retailers are in an acute crisis they're looking at mobilising working within every cohort so it's really not just a focus on this age group it's looking at a diverse range of options for what is a true crisis at this point for the workforce and [it] will have an impact on the national economy if not addressed," Brown said.
In Queensland, the minimum age of eligibility to work is 13, in Victoria the starting age is 15 and there is no set eligibility age in New South Wales and South Australia.
"We're talking about quite a limited number of hours there, so of course these hours should not interfere with school time and there's some caveats around that."
The average worker in the 13-15-year-old category worked about 10 hours per week, she said.
Workers in this age group received the minimum wage for workers under 16-years-old, with pay rates set by the Fair Work Commission.
The wage was lower than the minimum wage for an adult worker, Brown said.
Once workers reached 16-years-old, they would then be eligible for the adult minimum wage and have the ability to work full-time hours.
A lack of interest in employment was not expected to be a problem, Brown said about a third of Australian children between 13 and 15-years-old were currently engaged in some form of employment.
"What we're calling for is national consistency in Australia so that there's a clearer set of guidelines that are consistent around the country and hopefully that means that we can then mobilise some more of that activity within that age group," Brown said.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Australian Retailers Association was also looking to encourage mature-aged workers into jobs, increase employment of women and double the earning threshold for pensioners.