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Tech VECTOR

Value. Employment. Careers. Technology. Opportunity. Resilience.

Tech Sector Goals

Tech Jobs

Australia’s tech workforce numbers 949,000 – 79% of the way to our 1.2 million jobs target.

Definition: The number of tech-related jobs in the Australian economy, including non-technical roles within the direct tech sector¹ and technical roles² across the economy.
Research: Getting to 1.2 million (Tech Council of Australia, 2022)
Target: Pathway to help the Australian government increase the number of tech workers.
Data update expected: Q1 2026.

Tech Investment

The tech sector contributes 3.9% to Australia’s GDP, approaching our 4.6% target.

Definition: The sum of Australia’s R&D and tech adoption spending.
Research: Lifting tech investment in Australia (Tech Council of Australia, 2024)
Data update expected: Q2 2026.

Tech Sector GDP

Building toward a $250B tech economy – the sector currently contributes $167B.

Definition: The output or value added of the Australian tech sector to the national economy.
Research: The economic contribution of the Australian tech sector (Tech Council of Australia, 2021).
Data update expected: Q2 2026.

Definitions

1. Direct Tech Sector

All companies in the following 2 digit ANZSIC codes – ‘Internet Publishing and Broadcasting’, ‘Telecommunications Services’, ‘Internet Service Providers and Web Search Portals’, ‘Data Processing and Web Hosting Services’, ‘Computer System Design and Related Services’.

2. Technical Roles

All members of the labour force in the following 4 digit ANZSCO codes – ‘Business and Systems Analysts, and Programmers nfd’,  ‘ICT Business and Systems Analysts’, ‘Software and Applications Programmers’, ‘Computer Network Professionals’,   ‘ICT Network and Support Professionals nfd’,  ‘Database and Systems Administrators, and ICT Security Specialists’, ‘ICT Support Technicians’,  ‘ICT Support and Test Engineers’, ‘ICT Trainers’,  ‘ICT Managers’, ‘ICT Managers nfd’,  ‘Management and Organisation Analysts’,  ‘Graphic and Web Designers, and Illustrators’,   ‘Multimedia Specialists and Web Developers’,    ‘Electronic Engineering Draftspersons and Technicians’, ‘Electronics Engineers’,   ‘Engineering, ICT and Science Technicians nfd’,  ‘ICT Professionals nfd’, ‘ICT Sales Professionals’, ‘ICT and Telecommunications Technicians nfd’, ‘Telecommunications Engineering Professionals’, ‘Telecommunications Technical Specialists’, ‘Telecommunications Trades Workers’,  ‘Other Information and Organisation Professionals’.

3. Number of Tech Jobs

The total number of workers in technical roles across the economy and all employees in the direct tech sector.

Growth of technical roles over time by occupation categories

This chart shows how employment in different tech roles has evolved since 1986, highlighting emerging employment categories (such as engineering, IT,  and analytics) and long-term trends in technical workforce composition.

This proportion indicates how tech employment has grown as a segment of the overall workforce, showing tech’s increasing economic importance over time.

Provides insight into overall direct sector growth, capturing organisational scale beyond purely technical positions.

Strong increases in tech sector hiring — employee count, smoothed rolling average — coincided with falling interest rates during COVID-19 as well as a sharp decline in the national unemployment rate.

New grad computer science and information systems employment rate has diverged from the new grad mean since 2020.

Tech Sector Salaries

Salary Distribution by Tech Role and Career Stage

Percentile salaries illustrate the range of compensation for each role, highlighting differences between entry, mid, and senior-level positions and identifying high-earning occupations within tech companies.

Top Paying Tech Employers and Locations by Role

Helps identify where tech talent is most highly compensated and which employers or locations offer premium pay for different positions.

Average ICT Salaries Compared to Other Job Categories on SEEK

This chart shows the relative competitiveness of ICT compensation, providing context for talent attraction and retention within the broader economy.

Cross-Sector Salary Comparisons

This chart highlights how total remuneration varies across sectors, including tech industry members and other professional industries.

Tech Sector Salary Quartiles Across All Roles

Quartile salaries highlight the range of compensation across all tech sector companies, from the lower to the upper end of the pay spectrum.

Women’s Pay Scales in Tech

The gender pay gap between tech sector companies and all Australian companies who report to WGEA increases from just over 10% in the lowest-paying quartile to nearly 20% in the highest-paying quartile.

Women in Leadership by Sector

This chart hows the representation of women in executive and managerial roles across industries. It indicates gender diversity in leadership, comparing tech sector representation with other sectors and identifying sectors where gender gaps persist.

Women’s Promotion Rates by Managerial Level and Sector

This chart tracks the proportion of promotions awarded to women at different management levels in various sectors. It highlights gender dynamics in career progression, showing where women are advancing within organisations and identifying barriers at higher managerial levels.

Fewer women are being promoted from early-to-mid stage in their careers within tech companies than in all Australian companies who report to WGEA.

AI Index

The Global AI Vibrancy Index measures AI standing based on AI product development and research, identifies key national indicators to guide policy decisions, and highlights centres of AI excellence in both advanced and emerging economies.

Australia is ranked 28 out of 36 countries on AI vibrancy.

Skills Index

The Skills-First Readiness and Adoption Index is a multi-dimensional measure that evaluates employer practices, policy frameworks, education and training systems, and individual experiences to provide a practical overview of how prepared and committed countries are to a skills-first approach.

Australia is well prepared to adopt skills-based hiring in the tech sector, with a large portion of the economy successfully applying skills based hiring and training. Australia is ranked #1 on this global index.

R&D

Gross domestic spending (GDP) on R&D is the total money a country spends on research and development, both short- and long-term. It covers creative, systematic work to expand knowledge and develop new products, processes, or services. This includes R&D by companies, universities, research institutes, and government labs within the country, including foreign-funded projects, but excludes domestic funding for R&D done abroad.

Australia sits at the median (1.7%) for OECD R&D spending as a percent of GDP.