8 August 2025

ACS (Australian Computer Society), the nation’s peak body for technology professionals, has welcomed the Productivity Commission’s interim report on Harnessing Data and Digital Technology as a timely acknowledgment of the central role digital capability plays in Australia’s economic resilience and future prosperity.

 

ACS supports many of the Commission’s findings, particularly the emphasis on improving digital skills, encouraging innovation, and addressing capability gaps. However, the organisation has expressed concern over the recommendation to pause the introduction of mandatory guardrails for artificial intelligence.

 

ACS CEO Josh Griggs said, “We welcome the Commission’s commitment to technology-neutral regulation and agree that existing frameworks have gaps but delaying action on AI risks undermining public confidence and leaving industry in limbo.

 

“We need clear, risk-based rules that evolve with the technology and provide certainty for businesses and safeguards for the community. Our AI future depends not just on managing risk, but on growing capability, building trust, and connecting policy to impact,” Mr Griggs said.

 

Responding to the Commission's priorities

 

ACS supports the Commission’s focus on skills, innovation and data governance, and proposes additional measures to help Australia respond with urgency and coordination:

 

- Fast-track a national framework for technology skills – by building on Jobs and Skills Australia's taxonomy and aligning with international standards like SFIA to identify and address critical capability gaps in AI and digital fields.

 

- Boost investment in AI-related R&D and adoption – to address Australia’s persistently low R&D intensity and lagging innovation output, which place us behind global competitors.

 

- Ensure inclusive and flexible pathways into digital careers – including entry-level cybersecurity programs, “earn while you learn” models, and removing unnecessary degree requirements from job ads to widen access to in-demand roles.

 

“Digital skills are the foundation of Australia’s economic future,” Mr Griggs said.

 

“The public wants reassurance that AI will benefit everyone, not just those who build it. That means expanding access to skills, strengthening regulation where needed, and supporting industries to adopt AI responsibly.”

 

Insights from the ACS Digital Pulse

 

ACS’s Australia’s Digital Pulse 2025 report, released this week, provides further evidence of the challenges ahead, drawing on feedback from 300 senior executives and over 1,200 IT professionals. Key findings include:

 

- 150,000 businesses are experiencing significant or severe digital skills shortages

 

- 45% of C-suite leaders report only basic digital capabilities in their organisations

 

- Digital tasks now make up 39% of the average Australian worker’s day

 

- The digital economy supports 1 million jobs and contributes $134 billion annually

 

Rather than promote a wholesale rethink of AI regulation, ACS is calling for parallel progress, closing legislative gaps while simultaneously building national capability and trust.

 

“We need to move forward with purpose,” said Mr Griggs. “In the face of rapid innovation and increasing use of generative and agentic AI, clear, coordinated, and risk-based regulation must evolve in parallel with technology, not in its wake. A pause would only increase uncertainty for business and delay the development of the sovereign capabilities Australia urgently needs.”

 

The full Digital Pulse 2025 report is available at: https://www.acs.org.au/campaign/digital-pulse.html

 

 

-ENDS-

Further information

Troy Steer

Director of Corporate Affairs and Public Policy

M – 0417 173 740

E – [email protected]

 

About ACS

ACS is the voice of Australia’s technology sector, representing over 40,000 technology professionals across all industries and across the nation.

 

Our members work in industry, education, government, and the community delivering the digital services that drive the nation and provide the high-skilled jobs of today and tomorrow.

 

ACS works to grow the technology sector while making sure IT professionals act ethically, responsibly, and in keeping with the best interests of not only their employers, but the wider community.

 

Through our network of branches in every state and Territory, our innovation labs, education programs and our history of over fifty years, ACS works to help all Australians be part of the nation’s highest growth sector. Visit www.acs.org.au for more information.