Tech Council of Australia to push high-technology industry
A group of executives from Australian high-technology firms has launched the Tech Council of Australia. The Council’s focus will be on boosting the growth of the Australian tech sector, supporting talent attraction and workforce development, and helping government develop effective regulatory settings for a technology enabled economy.
The goals of the council are to help grow the Australian tech workforce to 1 million by 2025 (currently some 861,000 are employed in this sector); increase the tech sector’s contribution to the national economy to $250 billion a year by 2030 (it’s currently $167 billion); and more aspirationally to ”make Australia the best country in the world to create and invest in tech companies.”
The Council points out that Australia’s tech sector is now the country’s third biggest industry sector by value, behind mining and banking, according to research conducted by Accenture on the Economic Impact of the Tech Sector in Australia.
The tech sector is also a major employer with 1 in 16 working Australians currently in tech-related employment. Since 2005, tech jobs have grown by 66%, compared to an average jobs growth rate of 27% across the economy, the Council says.
By 2030, tech sector activity has the potential to contribute more to GDP in Australia than primary industries or manufacturing. TCA members want to continue to grow the tech sector, creating new jobs and opportunity for Australia.
The Editorial Director of InnovationAus, James Riley, said, “The structure or the new Technology Council of Australia is a very deliberate construction, creating a powerful new group that is global in composition and outlook, but also very Australian. Everything about its 25 foundation members screams ‘global’. These are all companies that are at home in the world.”
The TCA’s members include local firms and startups such as Afterpay, Atlassian, Blackbird Ventures, Canva, Culture Amp, Main Sequence Ventures, Square Peg and Stripe. International partners include Google and Microsoft.
The Tech Council of Australia will be headed by CEO Kate Pounder and chaired by Tesla Chair and Blackbird Ventures partner Ms Robyn Denholm; Executive Directors and board members will include Kate Jones, former StartupAus CEO Alex McCauley and Wyatt Roy.