Coding in every Australian school

As our economy responds to technological change, it is vital all Australians are skilled to be able to participate, to secure jobs today and well into the future. Digital proficiency will be a foundation skill, as important as reading and numeracy. It will increasingly be the determinant of employment prospects and opportunity. The Australian Workforce Productivity Agency predicts that in 2025 there could be an undersupply of qualifications for key ICT occupations, with employment projected to grow between 64 and 72 per cent faster than overall employment growth, and account for around 5 per cent of all employment in 2025. Business leaders, industry, demographers and the Chief Scientist are urging for immediate action to prepare for this future demand. Key to this, they say, is to improve digital literacy in schools, and embed coding in the Australian Curriculum from primary school. Australia needs to elevate technology to the status of literacy and numeracy in the National Curriculum so that it is taught from the beginning of formal learning by a more coding-literate teaching workforce. A Labor Government will ensure that computer programming and digital technologies – coding­ – is taught in every primary and secondary Australian school, by a teacher who has had the opportunity to receive training in coding