MEDIA RELEASE

---

ACS Demands IT Policy

Friday 11 September 1998 - The Australian Computer Society (ACS) has called for the major political parties to urgently release comprehensive policy statements for the IT industry.

ACS Chief Executive Arthur Dyster said no party had yet defined a clear vision for IT, despite public comments from both the ALP and the Liberal Party that this industry will play a significant role in Australia's economy in the 21st century.

"We're calling on the major parties to provide specifics about their plans for IT, including how they will address the skills crisis and how they will grow the industry and attract international investment," said Mr Dyster.

"While the ALP's Industry Policy embraces a number of the recommendations from the Goldsworthy and Mortimer Reports, it still falls short in several areas and an IT Industry Policy might help to clarify some of the issues they haven't addressed.

"We're still waiting to hear from the Liberal Party about their plans for industry development and the IT industry in particular.

"With only three weeks remaining in the election campaign, we need concrete specifics to enable people within the industry to make an informed judgement about which party has the best policies to take Australia into the next millenium," he said.

The ACS is advising both parties to use major industry reports from Goldsworthy, Mortimer and Cutler as their blueprint for policy development.

"Australia needs urgent intervention to resolve the critical shortage of skilled IT professionals through a combination of university education, encouragement of industry-based training and measures to attract skilled workers to Australia.

"With countries like the US easing restrictions on IT workers, we're likely to see an increase in the drain of this expertise from Australia," he said.

The ACS said IT policies should recognise that it is not only the use of IT which will generate prosperity, but the production of IT goods and services for export overseas.

"Any vision for IT should also include the goal of creating Australian-owned transnationals which would underpin our local industry and help improve the balance of payments," he said.

The ACS has already called for both the Government and Opposition to create specific IT Ministries to oversee all aspects of IT policy and planning, saying the election is an opportunity to realign portfolios with national goals.

This media release is located on the web at www.acs.org.au/news/elect982.htm

ENDS

Media Enquiries:

Arthur Dyster, ACS CEO, Tel: (02) 9299 3666 or (0419) 610 613, Email: arthurd@acslink.net.au

Caroline New, Caroline New PR, Tel: (02) 9980 8060 or (0411) 889 456, Email: cnew@acslink.net.au