Delay in changes to the Living Away From Home Allowance (LAFHA)
The Australian Computer Society welcomes the delay until October in implementing proposed changes to the Living Away From Home Allowance. The ACS has argued that the proposed changes will impede Australia’s digital economy as it is reliant on skilled ICT migration. ACS research has revealed there are insufficient numbers of students choosing ICT as a rewarding and creative career, with less than half the number of tertiary ICT students as there were a decade ago. In addition there are real barriers to older workers and women in accessing ICT training.
The Australian digital economy – worth over $100bn - is being constrained by acute skills shortages evident in official government forecasts, multiple industry research reports and job board listings. The ACS has noted that the proposed changes to the Living Away From Home Allowance will further dissuade the world’s best and brightest ICT minds from choosing to work in Australia versus Australia’s regional competitor countries . While the ACS welcomes the delay, the ACS argues that ICT should be treated as a special case given its importance to the Australian economy.