New figures from the Bureau of Statistics shows 31 per cent of the employing businesses surveyed were having difficulty finding suitable staff.
Two-thirds of large businesses, and 62 per cent of medium-sized businesses struggled. While 29 per cent of small businesses said they also had no luck, their operations were more likely to be affected.
Andrew MacKellar is the chief executive of Australia's Chamber of Commerce and Industry:
"It is one of the most difficult situations they've faced in nearly 50 years, we have to go back to the oil shock of the mid 1970s to see anything similar, and our survey results show in the past 3 months the problem has actually gotten more difficult, and not any easier"
But there is untapped potential in the workforce that some say could fill the shortfall. New research from Flinders University shows refugee women in particular are being under-utilised. Anna Ziersch is an associate professor at the university.
"Women from refugee backgrounds had substantially lower rates of employment compared to refugee men and also the general population they were also more likely to be in lower skilled, lower paid, more precarious forms of employment."
