Canberra's peak business group has expressed dismay at the contents of the ACT budget, calling for more investment in workforce attraction as skills shortages run deep.
Canberra Business Chamber chief executive Graham Catt welcomed investment in the tourism sector but blasted a lack of detail and spending on addressing skills shortages.
"Investing in workforce attraction now is critical, along with a clear plan for future workforce based on the number and nature of Canberra businesses," Mr Catt said in a statement.
He called on the government to work with local industry to set clear targets and develop education and training as well as strategies to attract skilled workers.
The budget includes $22.4 million over four years aimed at delivering initiatives to develop "knowledge intensive sectors, the commercialisation of research, investment attraction and facilitation, development of our innovation ecosystem, and the creation of new businesses and jobs".
Mr Catt said there was little detail around what is involved in this promise and how it will be delivered.
Further investments of $4.2 million were made to attract and retain domestic and international students, as well as $3.1 million towards stimulating tourism.
The budget has also earmarked $31.2 million for delivering the CIT Woden campus, as a means to address skills shortages in the territory.
The country's leading accounting body, CPA Australia, welcomed the ACT government's efforts but said there is "no silver bullet" for solving skills shortages.
"Last year there was no focus on the ACT's professional skills shortage. This year, there has been a renewed effort to address some of these concerns," CPA Australia Senior Manager Tax Policy Elinor Kasapidis said in a statement.
Shane Brady, who owns KX Pilates studios in Braddon and Kingston, said she had lost about four of her 10 staff in the last six weeks, with people moving overseas.
"For a small businesses, that's quite a lot of staff members that we had to employ, that in itself is challenging and time consuming," she said.
Ms Brady said she would have liked the budget to include funding for a campaign to encourage Canberrans to support local businesses, as the effects of the Omicron variant continued to be felt through staff and client infections.
"It would be good to have that kind of level of support from the government considering the last 24 months that we've had," she said.
Mr Catt said there was concern that the ACT government believes businesses no longer need support.
"Local businesses aren't looking for handouts, or miracle fixes to complex global problems like labour shortages. But they do expect private sector investment that demonstrates an appreciation of their significance to economic recovery, and of the scale and impact of the challenges they currently face," he said.
He added that infrastructure projects such as the Canberra Hospital Expansion should have a provision to ensure local companies are engaged to carry out works.
"We will be missing out on the benefits if the government funds out-of-town businesses to do this work," Mr Catt said.
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