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Digital Inclusion, Education IT, Government

Australian state's US$2 mil funding to boost ICT skills

By Pia Rufino | 14 September 2011

The Victorian Government has announced it will release AU$2 million (US$2.1 million) to fund a two-year programme aimed at increasing the number of IT workers in the state.

Minister for Technology Gordon Rich-Phillips said the initiative includes various programmes to encourage students to pursue ICT-related careers.

Rich-Phillips made the announcement at 2011 Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association conference.

“While Victoria’s ICT workforce is growing twice as fast as the national average and produces one third of national IT graduates, we still need to put in the groundwork to ensure we are prepared for future challenges,” he explained.

Funding will be divided in three areas—improving awareness and understanding of ICT careers; working with post-secondary education sectors to enhance the quality of ICT courses, and increasing the supply of ICT workers from non-education pathways such as career changers and by growing the number of women in ICT.

The programme also aims to improve the job-readiness of ICT graduates with a focus on issues relating to high-speed broadband.

Rich-Phillips claims the programme will allow the Victorian ICT workforce to continue growing at one of the fastest rates in Australia.

“As a growing number of industry leaders in ICT set up their Australian bases in Victoria, and with ICT becoming a more integral part of running a successful business, demand for trained professionals in Victoria is guaranteed to rise.”

More than five per cent of the Victorian workforce is in the ICT sector. The government intends to release its industry plan for the sector later this year.

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