Tech Council welcomes Federal Budget investments

The Tech Council of Australia (TCA) has welcomed the investments outlined in last night’s Federal Budget that the government says will improve the skilled migration system, support the next generation of Australia’s tech industry, and strengthen Australia’s cybersecurity preparedness and resilience.

“This budget will help take our tech smarts and turn them into high-paid jobs and globally successful businesses,” said Tech Council of Australia CEO Kate Pounder. “The budget takes important steps to address the big challenges facing our country, including skills shortages, growing new industries and jobs, and strengthening cybersecurity.

“Industry commercialisation and innovation is a strong feature of the budget, with additional investment to stand up the National Reconstruction Fund, targeted measures to underpin the National Quantum Strategy and the creation of a $392 million Industry Growth Program.

“Australia has global strengths in critical technology areas like quantum, AI and robotics, and the measures announced in the budget will support our tech companies to commercialise and scale globally.

“The recent passage of the National Reconstruction Fund is a landmark reform to build new high-value industries and we are pleased to see the government is wasting no time in standing up the new corporation.

“The creation of the new Industry Growth Program will help spark early-stage commercialisation in strategic industries and grow Australian startups. We welcome the adoption of an end-to-end approach that connects the pipeline of projects from this program to the National Reconstruction Fund.

“The government’s investments in quantum and AI, including the new national challenge program for quantum computing and the $3.4 billion Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator in the defence portfolio, are important initial steps towards achieving the vision set out in the recently released National Quantum Strategy,” Pounder added.

The budget also contains investments in visa processing which will be essential to reach 1.2 million tech workers by 2030.

“Australian businesses from all parts of the economy continue to struggle with finding experienced tech workers in technical roles like software engineering and cybersecurity. That is why we strongly support the plan for migration reform laid out by Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’Neil last month,” Pounder said. “The Tech Council has advocated for improved pathways to permanent residency and it’s encouraging to see the government’s strong response.

“While domestic training and reskilling remain the most important pathways for workers to enter the tech sector, migration is critical to fill gaps in technical, experienced roles and to train Australian talent. We look forward to continuing to work with the government on the delivery of the broader migration reform program.”

Finally, the budget contains a suite of measures aimed at bolstering cybersecurity, cracking down on scams and supporting improved privacy practices.

“We back the government’s goal to make Australia the most cyber-secure nation in the world. We strongly support the investment in expanding the digital identity system across the economy, which is one of the most important actions the government can take to protect Australians’ data,” Pounder said. “The establishment of the new Coordinator and National Office for Cyber Security is an important reform which has the potential to significantly improve the way we respond to major cyber incidents and review lessons learned.”

“The measures announced by the government … will play an important role in continuing to drive us towards our shared goal of 1.2 million tech jobs by 2030 and are well-aligned with the priorities outlined in our pre-budget submission,” she concluded.

Image: iStock.com/FREDERICA ABAN