IT has long been one of Australia’s most resilient and popular migration fields. Whether you’re pursuing skilled independent migration, state-nominated migration or employer-sponsored migration, IT always has a place — and its employment prospects in Australia are very strong. IT is also one of the rare fields where a single qualification and skill set can take you anywhere. Once you hold an Australian qualification, working back home or in another country is no problem at all!

This year the Australian Government also announced that from 1 July 2023, international students studying in fields related to Australia’s skills shortages will have their Subclass 485 / Graduate Work visa extended by a further 2 years after they graduate. IT is included in this, which means completing an eligible IT undergraduate course earns a 4-year Subclass 485 visa, and completing a master’s course earns 5 years! With at least 4–5 years to work on migration, find a job, build work experience and sit your English test, you’re all set!

Next, I’ll go into more detail about studying IT and the employment outlook for IT careers in regional areas.

IT major

Information Technology

Categories

IT is mainly about applying computer science and technology to design, develop, install and test information systems and application software. Studying IT in Australia broadly falls into these main streams:

Business information systems – Business information system

Software engineering – software engineering

Information systems – information system

Computer science – computer science

Network technology – network

Cyber security – cyber security

You can also apply for IT at the Group of Eight (Go8)!

IT is one of the few STEM fields in Australia with relatively relaxed undergraduate-background requirements. Many students who graduated from a non-IT undergraduate degree in China are entirely able to gain admission to an Australian IT master’s. For example, the following universities accept IT master’s applications with no specific background:

ANU (Australian National University) (world ranking 30th): graduates of 985/211 universities need 75%, non-985/211 (“shuangfei”) need 85%; you can apply for information technology and business information system

UOM (University of Melbourne) (world ranking 33rd): 985/211 need 75%, non-985/211 need 90%

Monash (Monash University) (world ranking 57th): average of 75% required; you can apply for business information system

UQ (University of Queensland) (world ranking 50th): 985/211 need an average of 75%, non-985/211 need 80%

UWA (University of Western Australia) (world ranking 90th): 985/211 average 70–75%, non-985/211 80%

UA (University of Adelaide) (world ranking 109th): 985/211 need 70–75%, non-985/211 need 80%

in China

without a relevant background

If you hold an IT-related undergraduate degree, your range of university options is even wider. The English requirement is IELTS 6.5 with no band below 6, and an equivalent PTE or TOEFL score is also accepted.Feel free to contact me directly to explore your options!

There are also some courses that offer outstanding value for money with low tuition fees, strong course quality and ACS accreditation. These suit students who want to study a second master’s or are seeking low-barrier entry.

Torrens University (Torrens)

Master of Business information system

Cost: around AUD 27,000 per year, with scholarships available for international students

Academic background: no specific undergraduate background required; IELTS 6.5 (6 in each band)

Campuses: Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne

Sydney Polytechnic Institute

Mater of data science

Cost: AUD 26,400 per year

Academic background: an IT-related qualification required; IELTS 6.5 (6 in each band)

Campus: Sydney

Employment outlook for IT careers in Australia

IT has many specialisations. Finding work in IT isn’t hard, and across the different specialisations, data from Seek shows that employment rates and job opportunities for IT-related occupations have been on a steady upward trend, with a median salary of around AUD 2,200 per week — far above the median for other jobs in Australia, making it consistently one of Australia’s high-paying professions.

Recently, many students considering the migration advantages of regional areas have also worried about IT employment prospects there. Let’s take South Australia and Western Australia as examples.

South Australia

South Australia has world-class capabilities in data analytics, artificial intelligence and virtual reality. The Australian Institute for Machine Learning, located in the Lot Fourteen tech precinct in Adelaide, is here too, with world-leading machine-learning research capabilities. South Australia is also home to Australia’s only big-data living lab run in collaboration between MIT, government and industry.

From multinationals to small and medium enterprises, most high-tech companies are now setting up in South Australia, and demand for skilled talent in the region keeps growing. Universities in South Australia all offer cutting-edge high-tech study and research programmes. The University of Adelaide, Flinders University and the University of South Australia all place strong emphasis on high-tech training, offering courses in areas such as machine learning and cyber security, providing graduates with an excellent professional platform for future employment.

Western Australia

Western Australia’s state-nomination requirements have recently dropped sharply. Several IT occupations have received invitations with as few as 65 points (the minimum threshold), and the graduate stream is by far the lowest-requirement of all the state-nomination pathways. WA graduates also need no job offer and no work-experience requirement!

As one of the Group of Eight (Go8), the University of Western Australia is based in the capital city of Perth and ranks among the world’s top 100. It offers software engineering, information technology and data science. Under the current migration policy, the migration opportunities in Western Australia are growing ever larger.

Migration policy changes in an instant, and opportunities always go to those who are ready — so start now and get organised.

planning a study pathway around migration

choosing a field based on employment

For either, get in touch with me to learn more.

Past articles worth revisiting

[Thinking of waiting before you lodge?] Parent migration may be risky — and costly.

Australia welcomed 3 million migrants over 21 years — how are they doing?

Will Queensland open the floodgates again?! A look at March’s invitation round!

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3 Million Sit China’s Postgrad Exam, Under 20% Get In? Study a Master’s in Australia — No IT Background? You Can Still Do a Go8 Master’s! Plus Affordable, Great-Value Accredited Courses!

[Thinking of waiting before you lodge?] Parent migration may be risky — and costly.

Australia welcomed 3 million migrants over 21 years — how are they doing?

Will Queensland open the floodgates again?! A look at March’s invitation round!

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