Southern Grampians Shire chief executive officer Michael Tudball said the region, from Warrnambool through to Ararat, was crying out for a workforce.

“We need a younger demographic because, like everywhere, we have an ageing population,” he said.

“There are 2500 jobs needed to be filled today.”

Mr Tudball said a promise by the state opposition to establish a population commissioner was welcome as long as they worked to address the significant workforce shortages in the south-west. He said in the Southern Grampians Shire there would be 40 employers needing to fill 50 jobs. “There is a workforce shortage across the board,” he said. “It’s in health and the public service… everyone is struggling to attract a skilled workforce.”

Mr Tudball said through work done by the council and Leadership Great South Coast eight families, originally from central Africa, had been welcomed to the shire with another family expected at the end of the year. He said Penshurst, Hamilton and Coleraine had been identified as towns for the families to relocate because they had hospitals, schools, housing and employment.

Mr Tudball said the project had also been discussed with residents and support networks had been established to help the new residents adjust. He said the families had been encouraged to come and see the shire before choosing to move and had been billeted out in other residents’ homes for the night. “People welcomed a family of six into their home,” he said.

But he said attracting migrants should not solely be council’s responsibility. “Council can’t do it alone,” he said. “We need support, it’s not core council business.”

Opposition leader Matthew Guy said the population commission would work with local councils to determine how population was likely to change over the same time periods and how it should be managed in each local government area, including regional cities to ensure that Victoria and Melbourne’s population growth was sustainable and maintained liveability.