JOINT MEDIA RELEASE

GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS RECOMMENDATIONS OF IT & T TASKFORCE

2 September 1999

The IT & T Skills Taskforce Summit today presented some exciting and innovative ideas on how the Government and the IT&T Industry can work together to facilitate skill formation to meet Australia’s demands on the world wide growth in the information economy.

The IT& T industry should be commended for its leadership in developing proposals to address the very serious issues of skill shortages in the IT&T industry.

The Government is supportive of their efforts and will be working closely with the IT&T taskforce to develop the proposals outlined today, particularly in advancing the concept of an Australian Institute of IT Skills.

The IT & T Skills Taskforce Summit was attended by Ministers Kemp, Fahey and Alston who welcomed the initiatives presented.

"Australia is keeping abreast of the worldwide surge in demand for skilled IT&T workers. In 1999, commencements in IT&T Higher Education courses rose by 26.6 per cent, and were 148 per cent higher than in 1989. Between 1989 and 1998 completions in these courses rose by 182 per cent," said Dr Kemp, the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs.

"Commencements in higher level vocational education and training (VET), courses also rose by 57 per cent in the four years to 1998, and at all levels, there were approximately 120,000 IT&T VET commencements in 1998.

"Despite this progress we still face a challenge in providing skills to meet the world-wide growth of the IT&T industries. The Skills Summit today highlighted the importance of flexibility and short time frames in responding to the IT&T sector’s skills needs.

" Industry and government both have an important role to play in meeting the challenges presented by the global IT skills shortage and in looking for positive ways to move forward."

Senator Alston said the Government welcomed the industry's response to the IT&T skills shortage, particularly the proposed Australian Institute of IT&T Skills concept which will seek to provide a better match between present and future industry skills needs and the supply of skills from the education and training system.

"Government vision and initiative counts for nought without industry solutions. You are the ones on the ground floor, seeing first-hand the emerging skills requirements of the next century," he told the Task Force.

"The Task Force's initiatives to improve the IT&T industry's recruitment and training practices are therefore warmly welcomed, particularly in light of the Task Force's survey finding that most firms intend to reduce their training effort and instead seek to meet their skills needs by recruiting staff from elsewhere - in words 'poaching' staff from their competitors.

"This approach would only serve to drive up salaries and worsen the problem. The principle of life-long learning is one that all employers must embrace if we are to grow our local skills pool.

"Employers need to widen their potential recruitment base by providing greater entry and retraining opportunities for non-IT&T graduates and other skilled people from non-IT&T backgrounds. This has been done very successfully overseas, in particular in countries such as Canada, Israel and Ireland.

"The industry also needs to take steps to overhaul its image in order to attract our best and brightest people and to address the low representation of women in IT&T courses and jobs.

"The Government hopes that the industry takes these concerns into account through the proposed Skills Institute," said Senator Alston.

Minister Fahey also supported the views presented by the Taskforce saying, "The IT&T industry is one that Australia has an opportunity to lead the world. Together, Government and industry can harness a resource that can be cultivated and developed into an investment that Australia need to make in its future."

"This Government recognises the importance of this global surge in the IT&T Industry and working together we will be prepared to meet the challenges of the next century."

Media enquiries: Samantha Herron, David Kemp’s office

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