Temporary visa applications to Australia are being processed faster and more efficiently since the setting up of three dedicated centres, Immigration Minister Senator Chris Evans says.

Accountants had called for restrictions on work visas to be eased to cope with demand in their profession.

However, Senator Evans said 81 per cent of all 457 visa holders were being employed in professional occupations and highly skilled jobs, including accounting.

"Earlier this year, I directed the department to clear a backlog of about 13,000 temporary skilled migration visa applications on hand since March, many of which were outside the acceptable standards for processing," Senator Evans said.

"Applications for temporary skilled visas are now being processed faster and more efficiently at three new dedicated Centres of Excellence established in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne to deal with increasing demand by Australian companies for overseas workers to meet skills shortages."

Immigration department data released last month shows that 110,570 visas were granted to temporary skilled workers and their dependents in 2007-08, up from 87,310 in 2006-07.

Senator Evans noted that accountancy was the top occupation for the permanent skilled migration program - averaging 9,000 to 10,000 places each year for the past three years.

Specialist recruitment firm Select Accountancy said it was crucial that 457 visa restrictions be eased to cope with demand for accountants and finance professionals.

Select general manager Asia Pacific Suzanne Boyd said employers were being forced to look abroad to fill positions, often left vacant as local talent was lured overseas where there is also a shortage of accounting and finance professionals.

"Employers in Australia have to cast a wider net to bring talent in - or back in - to the country," she said.

Smaller regional and suburban accounting firms were bearing the brunt of these skill shortages more than their multi-national counterparts, she said.

"A collective effort to attract and retain talent, particularly accounting and finance professionals in Australia, will help all employers and take some much needed pressure off the sector," she said.

High demand for accountants and a low supply of graduates is taking its toll on the industry.

The shortage is having a negative impact on 64 per cent of the profession with increased workload and stress the biggest impact on employees, according to the 2008 Vedior Asia Pacific employment trends survey.

More than 80 per cent of employers in the accounting and finance sector now use head hunting to find suitable people in a very tight talent pool.

The practice, once reserved for senior executives, is being used to source junior and mid-level staff.