About the Digital Professional Workforce Action Plan 2020-2024

The Digital Professional Workforce Action Plan 2020-2024 is part of the $200 million Future Skills Fund and with an $8 million investment aims boost the number of Queenslanders skilling and re-skilling for an expected upsurge in digital jobs.

Digital technology has changed almost every aspect of the daily life of households, businesses, industries and governments, bringing opportunities and challenges for each. Here in Queensland, we want to make sure we embrace the opportunities of this digital transformation and position Queensland with a strong and diverse digital economy.

It is estimated that Queensland will need an additional 10,000 digital professionals by 2024 to support industry and Queensland’s economic recovery and future prosperity. More than half of our digitally skilled workforce is already employed in supporting industries outside of the traditional ICT sector such as mining, manufacturing, agriculture and tourism and this trend is expected to continue.

About the plan

The Queensland Government will partner with the state’s digital industry and academia to implement the action plan and help Queenslanders undertake digital skills training and development.

The plan was developed through consultation with industry and business leaders, employees, and educators.

The Queensland Government will continue to work with businesses, industry, local government and the education sector to plan for emerging and future needs and support the digital workforce as technologies and jobs change.

Vision and focus

Together, the Queensland Government and digital industry will position Queensland as an innovative, digitally-savvy economy by supplying an additional 10,000 digital professionals by 2024 through investing in skilling and reskilling and attracting a broader range of people into digital professions.

We're looking at 4 priority areas of investment to:

• develop Queensland’s digital professional workforce to support Queensland’s economic and social recovery and ensure our future prosperity.
• widen the digital workforce pipeline by skilling, reskilling and upskilling Queenslanders entering the workforce and by attracting new and more diverse cohorts into traditional and emerging industries.
• enhance and strengthen regional Queensland’s digital professional workforce by ensuring there are adequate educational and professional development opportunities locally and that remote working is promoted and encouraged.
• provide collaborative and strategic leadership to ensure Queensland has a workforce of cutting-edge digital professionals to:
• meet the needs of the labour market
• enable businesses to remain competitive
• take advance of new opportunities offered by the digital economy.

Read the Digital Queensland: Digital Professional Workforce Action Plan 2020-2024 (PDF, 716.71 KB).

Industry statements

Council of ICT Associations

A crisis has the potential to accelerate existing trends and COVID-19 has been no exception. Organisations which had been on a gentle path to Digital Transformation have found themselves accelerating their transformation at a rate that they never expected and this has further increased the need for skilled digital professionals.

The Council of ICT Associations (CICTA), which brings together twelve professional and industry associations in the Queensland Digital Economy found themselves at the forefront of the business disruption that COVID-19 wrought. Not only have the associations had to change their business models to accommodate the social distancing restrictions, but they have also been witness to the dire need in all businesses to be prepared and able to embrace digital disruption.

CICTA has been highlighting the increasing shortage of skilled digital professionals for the last few years. The reality of this shortage is now with us and many organisations are reporting difficulty in recruiting the people and talent that they require. Only in the last few days, CICTA members have reported significant shortages in skills such as Cybersecurity, Software Development, Business Analysis, Project Management and many others.

The truth is that we do not have enough people with the requisite digital skills to keep our economy moving down a sustainable growth path. It is worth remembering that this is not just a problem for the ICT industry as slightly more than half of our digitally skilled talent is employed in non-ICT related industries. It is an inescapable conclusion that Queensland needs, in the short and long term, to build a steady pipeline of digitally skilled talent to maintain growth and generate more jobs. The Queensland Government’s Digital Professional Workforce Action Plan is a key initiative to ensure that this happens. CICTA has worked collaboratively with the Government and individual industry leaders to develop this action plan.

Queensland needs this initiative on a number of levels. Our technology companies must be cutting edge; other businesses must be capable of embracing new ways of working and many workers displaced by COVID-19 need help in identifying rapid reskilling opportunities. CICTA welcomes this plan as a real contribution to addressing the digital skills shortage and looks forward to working with the Government on its implementation.

Dr Nick Tate Chair, CICTA

The Queensland Digital Association

“We know that the power of digital transformation is agnostic to any industry vertical, and will be a vital driver for Queensland’s economic recovery and to help improve the lives of everyday Queenslanders into the future.

The Queensland Digital Association is delighted with the news of the $8 million dollars of funding for the Queensland Digital Professional Workforce Action Plan, and looks forward to facilitating industry and government in the rollout of programs to drive digitisation and innovation across the state.”

Fiona Foxon, CEO, The Queensland Digital Association