MEDIA RELEASE

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West Review is All Talk But Little Action, says ACS

Friday 17 April 1998 - The Australian Computer Society (ACS) has criticised the West Review as lacking substance, saying it fails to provide the crucial measures needed to sustain and grow Australia’s IT industry.

"This report does little more than pay lip service to the importance of education and lifelong learning without providing any concrete measures to guarantee Australia’s international competitiveness," said ACS President, Prins Ralston.

He said recommendations to give students more say, place a greater emphasis on teaching, and promote nationally rewarding research do not address the issues facing Australia in the information age.

However, he welcomed the call for greater investment in information technology and infrastructure, saying universities had long been aware of their needs in this regard.

"The onus is now squarely on the Government to deliver the infrastructure and resources our tertiary institutions require to effectively prepare their students for their professional careers."

Mr Ralston stressed that any delivery must be measurable in comparison to the US model, with whom Australia must compete in the global economy.

"The global nature of the Internet means Australian universities have to compete with tertiary institutions from other OECD countries in the provision of on-line education, yet we lag far behind them in terms of the infrastructure and resources to which our universities have access. This must change, and quickly," he said.

Speaking after attending the Government’s E-Commerce Summit in Canberra, Mr Ralston said the call to arms being made with regard to e-commerce was not being echoed by educationalists, with no response to demands to a significant increase in the number of undergraduate IT places.

"In his industry statement last year, Prime Minister Howard acknowledged that IT&T would be Australia’s biggest source of employment in the next century and DEETYA has predicted that demand for IT professionals will rise dramatically between now and 2005," he said.

"Yet despite this level of awareness, the Government is doing very little to increase the number of IT professionals who will be needed to enable Australia to compete in the information age.

"Australia is already facing a serious shortage of qualified IT professionals and the situation will only get worse unless decisive action is taken by this Government."

Mr Ralston said the West Review was an opportunity to redress this critical shortage but it had missed the boat, however, the Government had the opportunity to act.

"When the Government makes its considered response to the West Review, we hope they will take the necessary measures to address this situation.

"The US has already more than doubled the number of university places allocated to undergraduate IT students - if we want to be competitive, Australia will need to triple our current numbers just to keep up.

"Clearly, the profession and the industry have a role to play here as well, but we can do little without clear policy direction and a commitment from the Government to providing the necessary infrastructure to underpin our educational framework.

"Our universities must be provided with adequate funding and encouraged to allocate resources appropriately to ensure a reliable supply of qualified IT graduates with the right mix of skills for Australia’s future needs," he said.

"Mr West made much of the need for Australia to have a world-class higher education industry, focusing on the rights of students, as paying customers, to have more say.

"However, he ignored the literal imperative that all Australians will need skills in information technology if we are to survive and compete in the global economy. The universities must be encouraged to provide those skills, not only through IT-specific education, but as a pervasive element of every curriculum."

Recognising the importance of quality IT education, the ACS has highlighted the need for IT faculties to be funded on the same basis as other faculties providing graduates to the professions.

"If we want our students to have the best possible teaching, then we not only have to offer remuneration packages comparable to what IT academics could command in the industry, but we have to provide the facilities necessary to enable them to learn - technical laboratories, Internet access and more," he said.

The IT profession, through the ACS and industry bodies, plan to address these issues in meeting with relevant Government Ministers in the near future.

This media release is available on the ACS Web site at www.acs.org.au/news/westfin.htm

ENDS

Media Enquiries:

Prins Ralston, ACS President, Tel: (0411) 755 069, Email: p_ralston@ntu.edu.au

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