With Labor now in government and the ministry announced it’s time to review what their policies mean for the IT and communications sectors.
Broadband, education and regional development were major issues in this election so there are some serious policy differences to those of the previous government.
One encouraging result for these policies is the relevant opposition spokespeople have become the ministers for those portfolios, the most important being Stephen Conroy retaining the communications portfolio. This means we have an incoming minister who is aware of the major issues in the sector.
Labor’s biggest emphasis was on education with the promise of a computer for every senior secondary student, encouragement for science and maths students, a tax deduction for parents of students and programs to encourage skilled and vocational training.
Every child between years 9 and 12 will have their own government provided computer. This is a big headline issue as school computers are a concern for most parents whether they are in the state, independent or Catholic education systems.
The reality is most schools already have the bulk of these facilities. The real challenge is supporting the infrastructure and providing the resources for teachers to properly use these powerful tools. Rolling this out is going to be a short term boost for the IT industry.
Education rebate
Every family can claim half of their education costs up to $750 for primary and $1500 for secondary students. This can include computers, software and Internet access. This proposal is great for laptop and software vendors and its no coincidence Harvey Norman shares surged on the Monday after the election. We can expect to see small and large service providers and vendors get another short term boost out of this.
The proposal of a new training system is welcome given the problems we currently have with vocational training. But on one level this is a worry; will we see another duplication of the existing state based TAFE system like the coalition’s Australian Training Colleges program?
The encouraging part of this particular announcement is business will have a large say in the training policies. Industry has a much more acute understanding of where vocational training is needed than government.
The proposal to fund training up to Certificate III level is welcome, but some fields will need training to Cert IV, diploma and even degree and post grad level.
Overall this is good news for the IT industry, but we need to make sure we are adequately represented in the proposed industry skills councils.
We can expect to see more techs, web designers being produced. This is good for addressing the immediate skill shortages at the lower ends of the ICT industry. Again the industry needs to make sure they are represented in the development of these centres and the allocation of resources.
There’s a mixed bag of ideas here with the aim of encouraging students into teaching, nursing, science and maths degrees. This is a critical investment in Australia’s future as it’s essential we get more people into these courses. This will be a long term gain for the industry.
While this is the biggest ticket item, and probably the sexiest, it does have serious effects for the nation’s development. One question is how far the previous government’s OPEL scheme has developed as we may end up with either duplication or most of the subsidy going to the OPEL partners.
Online safety
Another program that will pick up from the previous government’s policy is the cyber-safety plan. The biggest difference between the parties is Labor’s commitment to provide a family safe “clean feed”. This is going to take negotiation and may well end up being a subsidy for the incumbent telcos.
This is not strictly speaking an IT policy, but Enterprise Connect will have an effect on IT Investments and tech innovation. The regional focus of many of the programs will be an opportunity for many businesses in those locations to invest in ICT.
Reform of the energy rating system
Another peripheral program to the IT industry are the changes to the energy rating system. Green IT will be one of the major issues facing the ICT sector in the next five years. While IT equipment was not mentioned in Labor’s policy it’s difficult to see computers not being subject to this program in the next few years.
The emphasis on education is good for the long term future of the ICT industries, for the short term the equipping of students with computers and the rollout of broadband is very good for vendors and service providers.
In the medium term, the provision of technical training in high schools addresses the skills shortages that are already biting Australian employers. There is no shortage of keen young kids that want to have a career in IT. Giving them the opportunity to develop this interest is an extremely good thing for the industry.
The long term view is probably the most important of these policies. Australia has slipped badly in technical and scientific education, the very fields that will be critical in the first half of the 21st century. Hopefully, it’s not too little too late.
One of the problems with the date of the election was its proximity to the Christmas break, as a consequence it’s unlikely we’ll see any solid government action until well into the new year.
We should always remember what politicians promise and what they deliver are often two different things. Even the most well intentioned promises may figure out differently when put into practice. We’ll be watching with interest as these policies are put into place.
Similar posts:
One of the great features of the IT industry is how incoming ministers and Managing Directors stand up and announce how they can save some improbable amount of money on their IT spending.