2021 Census data shows Australia going high tech – Australian Bureau of Statistics

by | Oct 13, 2022 | Engineer

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The 2021 Census showed a rise in work and study in emerging fields of science and technology, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said today.
The number of people with an Information Technology qualification is now almost half a million (470,318), increasing by 36 per cent since 2016.
The fastest growing qualification in Australia was Security Science, at 5,805 people qualified (up 460 per cent since 2016). Qualifications in Artificial Intelligence also increased, at 630 people (up 200 per cent since 2016). 
Dr David Gruen AO, Australian Statistician said, “The 2021 Census data released today about qualifications and occupations reflects the rising prominence of the digital economy in Australia.
“There are over 260,000 ICT Professionals and 74,000 ICT Managers in the workforce, an additional 86,000 since the last Census”.
Information Communication Technology occupations with the highest growth since 2016 include ICT Support and Test Engineers (15,635 people, up 54 per cent), Software and Applications Programmers (116,927 people, up 47 per cent) and ICT Business and Systems Analysts (34,793, up 47 per cent).
One in five ICT Professionals and ICT Managers are female. But for workers under 30 years of age, female representation is higher, accounting for one in three ICT Managers and ICT Business and Systems Analysts.
Migration is also a major contributor to the tech workforce. Two thirds of Software and Applications Programmers were born overseas, with India representing the largest cohort. Software and Applications Programmers is the third most common occupation for recent overseas arrivals, with 24,000 arriving since 2016.
 
IT Qualification
Person Count 2016
Person Count 2021
Percentage growth
1
Information Technology, nfd[1]
238,280
307,409
+29.0%
2
Computer Science, nfd
58,264
84,469
+45.0%
3
Programming
21,751
32,917
+51.3%
4
Information Systems, nfd
14,500
21,913
+51.1%
5
Networks and Communications
7,168
10,356
+44.5%
 
[1] nfd – means not further defined and indicates that the Census response did not have enough detail to classify the person into a finer detailed qualification.
 
ICT Occupation
Employees 2016
Employees 2021
Percentage change
1
ICT Support and Test Engineers
10,172
15,635
+53.7%
2
Software and Applications Programmers
79,578
116,927
+46.9%
3
ICT Business and Systems Analysts
23,713
34,793
+46.7%
4
Database and Systems Administrators, and ICT Security Specialists
23,681
34,293
+44.8%
5
ICT Managers
59,126
74,540
+26.1%
 
 
Census data released today has shown Australians are now increasingly qualified in the fields of science and technology, with ‘Security Science’ being the fastest-growing qualification since 2016.
Migration is a major contributor to the tech workforce, with two-thirds of Software and Applications Programmers born overseas, and 24,000 of these programmers arriving in Australia since 2016.
Software and Applications Programming is the third most common occupation for recent arrivals to Australia. 
Search for 2021 Census data through the QuickStats tool.
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