AIIA responds to Government announcement on abolishing 457 visas
Announcement posted by Filtered Media | telling your story, brilliantly 18 Apr 2017
Canberra, Australia – 18 April 2017 -- The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), the nation’s peak member body for the ICT industry, has issued the following statement in relation to the Government’s announcement to abolish the 457 visas that bring temporary foreign workers into the country:
“There is an urgent need to fill critical shortages now in jobs demanding cyber security, cloud and data and analytics related skills,” said Rob Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive Officer of the AIIA.
“The AIIA is working with members, universities and government to address the skills gap and improve graduate outcomes to increase the number of locally qualified and trained ICT workers. In the meantime, many of our member companies rely on the flow of skilled 457 visa migrants to meet short term demands.
“ICT is Australia’s fastest growing sector – growing at a rate of 2 per cent compared to 1.4 per cent per annum growth for the workforce as a whole – yet we are still losing skilled workers to a globally competitive market.
“While industry wasn't consulted prior to this announcement, we encourage the Government to work with us on the details for the new policy.”
# # #
About AIIA
The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) is Australia’s peak representative body and advocacy group for those in the digital ecosystem. Since 1978 AIIA has pursued activities to stimulate and grow the digital ecosystem, to create a favorable business environment for members and to contribute to Australia’s economic prosperity. We do this by delivering outstanding member value by providing a strong voice of influence; building a sense of community through events and education; enabling a network for collaboration and inspiration; and developing compelling content and relevant and interesting information.
Media Contacts
For more information please contact:
Jeffrey Coote
Tel: (02) 8355 3130
jeffrey@filteredmedia.com.au
Joanna Stevens Kramer
Tel: 0408 466 410
joanna@filteredmedia.com.au
“There is an urgent need to fill critical shortages now in jobs demanding cyber security, cloud and data and analytics related skills,” said Rob Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive Officer of the AIIA.
“The AIIA is working with members, universities and government to address the skills gap and improve graduate outcomes to increase the number of locally qualified and trained ICT workers. In the meantime, many of our member companies rely on the flow of skilled 457 visa migrants to meet short term demands.
“ICT is Australia’s fastest growing sector – growing at a rate of 2 per cent compared to 1.4 per cent per annum growth for the workforce as a whole – yet we are still losing skilled workers to a globally competitive market.
“While industry wasn't consulted prior to this announcement, we encourage the Government to work with us on the details for the new policy.”
# # #
About AIIA
The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) is Australia’s peak representative body and advocacy group for those in the digital ecosystem. Since 1978 AIIA has pursued activities to stimulate and grow the digital ecosystem, to create a favorable business environment for members and to contribute to Australia’s economic prosperity. We do this by delivering outstanding member value by providing a strong voice of influence; building a sense of community through events and education; enabling a network for collaboration and inspiration; and developing compelling content and relevant and interesting information.
Media Contacts
For more information please contact:
Jeffrey Coote
Tel: (02) 8355 3130
jeffrey@filteredmedia.com.au
Joanna Stevens Kramer
Tel: 0408 466 410
joanna@filteredmedia.com.au