Mapping out australia’s path to tech jobs future

An influential forum of key stakeholders in the tech sector is aiming to transform the way Australia attracts and trains tech workers.

Initiated and facilitated by the Tech Council of Australia and the DSO, the Digital Employment Forum (DEF) brings together major technology employers, governments, and educators to work towards shared goals to address the country’s tech talent shortage.

The DEF has demonstrated its strength and effectiveness as a forum for identifying and implementing practical solutions to critical issues, amongst stakeholders.

In a report titled ‘Getting to 1.2 million’, the DEF laid out a roadmap to create a thriving Australian tech workforce, highlighting Australia’s tech jobs opportunity, the barriers the industry face to meet this opportunity, and what industry and government can do to reduce these barriers.

Launching the report at Parliament House in 2022, the Hon Ed Husic MP, Minister for Industry and Science, said the Australian Government would act on the report’s five calls for action: “The report finds that Australia will need an additional 650,000 tech workers by 2030 to meet the 2030 target [of 1.2 million tech-related jobs] and we can only do that if the tech industry and the government works closely together.”

“Our partnership has the potential to improve lives because tech jobs are accessible to people from all walks of life and are well-paid, stable and flexible.”