A new committee has been set up by the Western Australian state government to address the IT skills shortage. The information and communications technology (ICT) sector has been recognized as vital to the state's economy and Australian immigration is to be encouraged to meet the problem.

The ICT Skills Shortage Leadership Group was announced by the state industry and enterprise minister Francis Logan this week. "The ICT industry underpins everything we do and the future is strong here in WA. But its sustained growth depends on having enough skilled employees and this new committee will hopefully identify opportunities to help skill the industry," Mr Logan said.

The group will be made up of representatives from universities, TAFE, secondary schools, careers advisors, industry and professional associations, the Department of Education and Training, the Small Business Development Corporation, Scitech and the Curriculum Council.

"It will look at promoting ICT, teaching ICT and the retention and attraction of ICT staff. We will work directly with the ICT industry to identify the skill set they need now and in the future," said Valerie Maxville, chair of the ICT Industry Collaboration Centre.