The Tech Council of Australia (TCA) welcomes the outcomes of the Jobs & Skills Summit, which will make concrete progress towards achieving the Australian Government and the TCA’s shared commitment to 1.2 million tech jobs by 2030.
The outcomes achieved at the summit are a strong start to building the modern skills base that will help Australia grow more well-paid, good jobs in the tech sector, and help more Australians get access to them. It will also help address some of the more immediate pressures of tech workforce shortages.
The TCA is encouraged by the specific measures announced in the outcomes document for the summit, including:
- The Digital and Tech Skills Compact to deliver digital apprenticeships.
- Migration changes including:
- Investment in resources to improve processing times for visas and to clear the visa backlog, which will assist tech companies in sponsoring highly skilled highly paid migrants.
- The extension of post-study work visas will help to grow the pipeline of tech talent in Australia.
- The review of the migration system, which we will engage with to ensure the system supports Australia’s growing tech sector.
- The increase in the permanent migration program to 195,000 places
- Australian Government endorsement of a free national virtual work experience program for secondary school students to provide young Australians with a chance to try out a career in tech, regardless of where they live or what their background is, or whether they live with disability.
- Steps towards increasing the economic participation of women, including through equity targets in the Digital and Tech Skills Compact.
We’re delighted to see these outcomes announced, many of which the TCA and the Digital Employment Forum advocated for in our recently published tech workforce strategy report and featured as part of our agreement with the ACTU in the lead up to the summit.
These concrete commitments are a strong platform to build on through the Employment White Paper process to help get 1.2m people into tech jobs by 2030.
Robyn Denholm, TCA Chair said, “We want to thank the Australian Government for holding the Jobs and Skills Summit to build the consensus to tackle these important reforms. We thank the Treasurer, his staff, Treasury officials, and Parliamentary staff for all their effort in arranging the summit.”
Kate Pounder, TCA CEO, said: “We’re looking forward to continuing the spirit of cooperation that we witnessed in the summit, and to working with the Government on implementing the short-term measures announced, and engaging in the longer-term reform process through the white paper.”
The summit featured strong representation of Australia’s technology industry by TCA Chair Robyn Denholm, TCA Board Members Mina Radhakrishnan and Scott Farquhar and TCA member company CEO Luke Anear.
Scott Farquhar, Board Member TCA, Co-CEO and Co-Founder Atlassian, said “There’s a strong signal that tech adoption is crucial to Australia’s future. High paid, export jobs. This industry reduces income inequality, reduces gaps between rich and poor, provides jobs for people with disabilities and for those in regional Australia. The last two days have proven that others see the opportunity too.”
Mina Radhakrishnan, Board Member TCA, Co-Founder :Different, said “Technology is a growing but nascent sector in Australia, we need the skills to enable the industry to keep growing and build the next level of our industry. That’s why this has been such an important summit for our industry.”
Luke Anear, CEO SafetyCulture, said “Innovation and exporting products to the world is the key to improve the quality of Australians’ lives. We thank the Government for its engagement with the tech sector during the jobs and skills summit.”
Media contact:
Sofia Polak
media@techcouncil.com.au
0434 275 449
