The Australian Computer Society has released an election manifesto, offering recommendations to government that comes to power at the 18 May election to ensure that Australians attract higher paying jobs in the IT sector, but making no mention of the need to either change or repeal the controversial encryption law passed in December.

IT employers need to be willing to offer competitive remuneration packages in order to attract and retain the best talent to their company, according to one national recruitment consultancy which points to the 3.3% annual wage growth in the Australian IT sector.

Almost half (48%) of Australian businesses would rather recruit new talent than train existing employees, despite 70% recognising it is becoming more difficult to hire workers with the specific skills needed, according to a newly published report.