A severe shortage of experienced chefs in Australia is leading to competitive offers from employers. With up to 3,000 jobs unfilled, British chefs with Australian visas can look forward to enticing incentives to working and living in Australia.

In the state of South Australia, the city of Adelaide and the regions around Ceduna, Port Augusta and the Yorke Peninsula are all reporting shortages. Restaurant & Catering South Australia chief executive officer Sally Neville told the Advertiser: "We are probably about 250 chefs short at any given time in SA and probably the same number in front of house staff."

Australian Hotels Association general manager Ian Horne told the newspaper that the problem is getting worse because of the mining boom. "We have a severe shortage," he confirmed. He pointed to the experience of the hospitality industry in Perth, where they are bringing in skilled chefs and cooks from Bali because of the severity of the shortage. "What we are seeing in Perth is just a handful of years away for us," he predicted.

Mr Horne said skilled Australian immigration and good incentive packages are essential to attract chefs. "A lot of poaching goes on - it tends to be about better conditions or better money. It has really been getting progressively worse over the last decade."

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