A tourist hotspot that prides itself on its culinary experiences, the south-west Victorian town of Port Fairy is the latest location left reeling by staff shortages.
Key points:
- Port Fairy is a tourist hotspot facing hospitality venue closures in the face of staff shortages
- It’s estimated that as many as half of the town’s houses are holiday homes or short-term accommodation
- Moyne Shire Council has introduced three programs to tackle the problem
Within a 500-metre stretch of Port Fairy’s Bank Street, at least eight venues are either selling, have sold, or have changed their operating hours because of staffing issues.
But the local council is looking to its caravan parks, a letter-writing campaign, and backpackers to hopefully solve the problem.
A long-running problem
Leesa ClausenBrown, co-owner of lounge bar The Ombibulous Project, is one of the Bank Street business operators selling up.
She said the decision to sell was due to a combination of things, including cost-of-living increases and inflation affecting supply chains and increasing expenses.
“[But] staffing has to be probably on the top of that list,” Ms ClausenBrown said.
“Establishments in town were almost back to pre-COVID levels [of business], but they are serving that number of customers with half the number of staff that they used to have.
“It’s really hard to find staff, let alone really good staff.”
Matt Dempsey, owner of Conlan’s Wine Bar, which is also on the market, agreed with Ms ClausenBrown that finding staff was an ongoing issue.
“It’s been a battle since pre-COVID and it’s not getting any better,” Mr Dempsey said.
“The price of property is out of reach for hospo workers — there’s nowhere for them to live.”
The most cited reason for staffing shortages is the lack of available housing in Port Fairy.
According to realestate.com.au, the median house price in Port Fairy is about $1 million, and research in 2016 found about 37 per cent of houses in the town were holiday homes.
A Moyne Shire Council spokesperson estimated that in 2023, about half the houses in Port Fairy were used as short-term rentals and holiday homes.
Port Fairy is not alone in facing a hospitality staffing shortage — the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that, as of November 2022, 45.3 per cent of accommodation and food services were reporting job vacancies.
Caravan parks to the rescue?
Moyne Shire Council is trying several ideas to deal with the problem, including housing short-term workers in its council-run caravan parks.
The council’s director of economy and place Jodie McNamara said 15 workers from 10 Port Fairy hospitality and tourism businesses had been housed under the project.
“The feedback has been incredibly positive from both the businesses involved and the seasonal workers,” Ms McNamara said, describing the project as “incredibly successful”.
Ms ClausenBrown agreed, calling the caravan park experiment “an absolute godsend”.
“It enabled us to be fully staffed over the summer,” she said.
Old solutions to a new problem
In the neighbouring shire of Warrnambool, which has faced its own labour shortage crisis, the council has released an unconventional solution to its problems.
The Unretire the ‘Bool campaign seeks to incentivise retirees to re-enter the workforce to alleviate local staffing pressures.
This plan set to be implemented later this year will run as a test case for similar programs around the region.
Moyne’s other efforts
Moyne Shire has also initiated the Lease to a Local letter-writing campaign, encouraging non-resident ratepayers to consider renting their properties long term to residents.
The council is also advocating for Moyne Shire to be eligible for the 417 working holiday visa program to encourage backpackers to the area.
Chairman of Commerce Moyne Ashley King commended Moyne Shire’s moves.
“The results of the introduction of the programs have been very pleasing,” Mr King said.
“We’re hopeful that it can benefit businesses … across the shire.”
While the changes might be too late for the likes of Ms ClausenBrown, she said she hoped things could be done to help the businesses that are staying.
“It’s a long-term discussion,” she said.
“What we need is to get something up and running quickly.”
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