In response to the 2008 review of the Australian Government’s use of ICT, conducted by Sir Peter Gershon, the Australian Public Service Commission and the Department of Finance and Deregulation released the Whole-of-government ICT strategic workforce plan 2010-2013 in April. Freya Purnell looks at the detail of the plan.
Background to the plan
With the Gershon Review providing a comprehensive analysis of the issues affecting the Federal Government’s use of ICT, one of the key concerns identified was a general lack of strategic planning for ICT workforce capability at both the agency and whole-of-Government level. Employment in ICT occupations is forecast to grow strongly at about 3 per cent per year – compared with less than 1 per cent per year for other occupations – there will be increasing pressure to find suitably qualified ICT staff to meet the Government’s needs.
To address these concerns, the Whole-of-government ICT strategic workforce plan 2010-2013 provides strategies to improve the recruitment, retention and engagement of ICT staff across the Australian Public Service (APS).
On the plan’s release, Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Lindsay Tanner says, “Our aim is to have a workforce that can meet the Federal Government’s future ICT needs. That workforce needs to be sufficiently skilled and mobile to apply the new technologies that will deliver improved services to Australians. This workforce plan and career structure goes a long way to achieving that.”
Click here to read the full article in the May 2010 edition of Inside SAP.
