Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) has welcomed the inclusion of tax accountants and external auditors on Australia’s Occupation Shortage List, following sustained advocacy and a joint submission to Jobs and Skills Australia.

This recognition is consistent with findings from CA ANZ’s member survey in March 2025 which revealed national shortages of taxation accountants, management accountants and finance managers.

Our survey also identified state and territory shortages of tax accountants, external auditors, management accountants, general accountants, finance managers and financial investment advisers.

The main cause of the shortages cited by our members was a lack of suitable applicants driven by a declining talent pipeline, and retention challenges from increased competition and regulatory pressures.

Urgent action needed to build the pipeline

The List has identified Australia-wide shortages of external auditors for the past five years, and tax accountants for the past three years.

Urgent, targeted measures are required to tackle persistent shortages in these roles.

Enrolments in accounting degrees have halved since 2018, driven by factors such as limited exposure to accounting in school curricula and outdated perceptions of the profession.

While enrolments have started to stabilise, demand continues to outpace supply, and shortages remain.

Victoria University forecasts demand for accounting, audit and finance professionals continuing to rise to around 28,000 by 2029, including 16,000 accountants, with the Future Skills Organisation estimating a shortfall of around 6,000 accountants by 2030.

Accounting skills are highly transferable and in demand across industries. Accountants are increasingly moving into high-growth areas such as data, technology, AI, cybersecurity and forensics.

With 3.5 million professionals needed in finance, technology, and business, and a projected shortfall of 250,000 workers by 2030, accountants are well positioned to meet future workforce needs.

Our multi-faceted approach

CA ANZ is taking a multi-faceted approach to building the profession’s talent pipeline:

• Reshaping perceptions through our ‘Make epic things happen’ campaign
• Expanding partnerships with schools, universities, and vocational education and training (VET) providers to raise awareness of accounting careers and embed accounting pathways
• Providing new resources for educators, parents and career advisors
• Introducing more flexible, accessible pathways
• Building capability through certificates, short courses and microcredentials in high growth areas such as sustainability and AI.

Policy recommendations

CA ANZ is also calling on the government to support accounting skills development at scale by:

• Including accounting, audit and finance-related roles on Australia’s Occupation Shortage List to guide the development of targeted domestic workforce policy solutions
• Recognising accounting traineeships on the Australian Apprenticeships Priority List to unlock targeted government support for learners and employers
• Retaining accounting, audit and finance roles on Australia’s Core Skills Occupation List to enable employers to sponsor skilled workers on temporary visas to fill genuine workforce gaps
• Supporting employers to deliver structured on-the-job training in accounting alongside formal learning to bridge the education to employment gap
• Enabling flexible entry pathways and qualification equivalency, and reducing regulatory barriers to enhance the transferability and mobility of accounting skills.

We look forward to continued collaboration with governments, industry and skills bodies to build a skilled, strong, skilled and future-ready accounting workforce.