09 October 2007

Australian civil service needs IT workers with Australian visas

A new report from the Australian Government Information Management Office on the demand for skilled IT workers in the public service reveals that more effort should be made to recruit foreign workers with Australian visas.

Approximately 4,500 management and information professionals came to Australia under a long-stay business Australian visa in 2005/06 but less than 20 of these were hired by the public service.

The report highlights the government IT skills shortage and recommends hiring foreign workers to take up Australian visas as a measure to address the problem.

Government immigration policy comes in for some criticism in the report, particularly the complexity of obtaining security clearance for foreign IT professionals where prospective employers want to sponsor them to get an Australian visa.

The report recommends that "agencies are provided with clear advice on the process for engaging non-Australian citizens and that a whole-of-government approach or means of streamlining the process be investigated".

Australia's public service needs skilled IT workers: Anyone applying for an Australian visa should begin by completing the Australian Visa Bureau's online Australian visa application to see if they meet the Australian visa requirements.