25 New Schools Join Initiative to Strengthen Queensland’s Future Digital Workforce

^Highlights

Australia’s high-paying IT and digital sector is growing rapidly but faces a skills shortage, with workforce demand set to rise over 30% by 2035 while ICT student completions in Queensland have fallen by 22%. To address this, the ICT Gateway to Industry Project is expanding, adding 25 new schools in 2026.

Economic and Employment Outcomes in the Digital Sector

According to statistics tracked each year in ACS’s Digital Pulse publications, IT and digital industries offer students the highest average wage of any Australian sector. Tech workers earn $21 an hour more than the national average, and the sector also shares the highest rate of job growth across all industries. Currently, technology roles make up around 5% of Queensland’s workforce (acs.org.au/campaign/digital-pulse.html).

Projected Workforce Demand and Skills Shortages

Despite these strong indicators, Digital Pulse research predicts that the digital workforce will need to grow by more than 30% by 2035 to meet industry demand. In response, the ICT Gateway to Industry Project (ICT GISP) has been examining student completion rates in ICT and digital subjects across Queensland. Alarmingly, QCAA data shows a 22% decline in the number of students completing these subjects in Years 11 and 12—highlighting a growing skills gap at a critical time.

Policy and Programmatic Response: The ICT Gateway to Industry Project

ICT GISP, funded by the Queensland Government and facilitated by the Australian Computer Society, aims to address this challenge. Following an update to participation options in late 2025, the project is proud to announce that 25 new schools have joined our community for 2026, bringing the total to 75 as of Term 1 2026.

Geographic Distribution and Educational Diversity of Program Delivery

These programs span Queensland, from Cairns and Townsville to Nambour, Ipswich, Yatala and Brisbane, these new members represent schools of all backgrounds and sectors. These include State High Schools and Secondary Colleges, Independent and private schools, as well as alternative education programs.

Institutional Motivations for Program Participation

So why are these schools choosing to join?? Lachlan Stewart, Curriculum Coordinator, Mansfield State High School shares that “For the Mansfield SHS Digital Solutions Faculty, joining the ICT Gateway to Industry Schools Program will help us position our students for success in the future by strengthening career pathways, keeping up to date with emerging technologies, and building strong relationships with industry partners”.

Lisa Air, Pathways Advisor, YMCA Queensland highlight the importance. - “Y Schools joined the ICT GISP to support our students' exploration of ICT in real industry settings, to test their interests, and better understand their next steps after schooling”.

Steve Johnson, Head of Design and Digital Technology, Bentley Park College in Cairns described their ‘why’ this way - “We joined the ICT GISP community to connect with like-minded educators and open up better opportunities for our students — we really love the work ACS is doing”.

We welcome these new schools to the ICT GISP program. Details will be available shortly on our updated website map: https://qldictgisp.acs.org.au/educators.html

The Information and Communication Technology Gateway to Industry Schools Project focused on the followings:

Strengthening Cross-Sector Collaboration to Build Queensland’s Future ICT Workforce
A Coordinated Approach to Addressing Queensland’s Emerging ICT Skills Shortage
Advancing Workforce Capability Through Industry–Education–Government Partnerships (supported and funded by the Queensland Government)

Want to find out more - Queensland ICT Gateway to Industry Schools Program

New ICT GISP schools for Term 1 2026:

· Kings Christian College, Pimpama

· Clayfield College, Clayfield

· Heatley Secondary College, Townsville

· Omni Academies, Toowong

· Clairvaux MacKillop College, Upper Mt Gravatt

· Mount Maria College, Petrie

· Ipswich Flexi School

· Rivermount College, Yatala

· Nambour State College

· St Johns College, Forest Lake

· Busy Schools - Brisbane city campus

· Bentley Park College, Cairns

· Annandale Christian College, Townsville

· Mansfield State High School

· Murrumba State Secondary College

· Y Schools - 11 campuses:

o Brisbane South Junior

o Brisbane South Senior

o Bundaberg Senior

o Ipswich Junor

o Ipswich Senior

o Logan Junior

o Logan Senior

o Moreton Bay Junior

o Moreton Bay Senior

o Redlands Junior

o Redlands Senior