Treasurer Jim Chalmers says embracing technology will be a core tenet of Anthony Albanese's re-elected Labor majority government following Saturday's landslide victory against a Liberal-National coalition led by Peter Dutton.

The prime minister's victory guaranteed Labor a second consecutive three-year term and saw Dutton lose both his Brisbane seat of Dickson and his leadership of the Liberal Party, which has yet to confirm his successor.

Chalmers told ABC News on Sunday that technology would be a key piece of the government's domestic agenda, and Labor aimed to "do more to embrace technology, particularly the AI [artificial intelligence] opportunity".

Labor last year revealed it had begun developing an AI capability plan to assess how the technology could improve Australia’s economy, after earlier proposing mandatory AI guardrails similar to those in the European Union.

Labor and the Coalition detailed several contrasting technology policies prior to the election, including on energy, where Labor pushed to increase Australia’s use of renewable technologies while the Coalition proposed a transition to nuclear energy.

“Renewable energy is an opportunity we must work together to seize, for the future of our economy,” Albanese said in his victory speech on Saturday night.

The government was now in the process of reshuffling its frontbench, representatives said on Monday.

Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic, retained his safe Western Sydney seat of Chifley on the weekend, but whether he will remain in his ministry is yet to be confirmed.

ACS pushes for ‘rapid upskilling’ of workers into tech

The Australian Computer Society (ACS) said the new Labor government needed to focus on improving Australia’s digital skills if the nation’s economy was to remain globally competitive.

ACS represents almost 50,000 technology professionals in Australia and is the publisher of Information Age.

The association has previously called on the government to improve Australia's digital skills pipeline, as its Digital Pulse report found an extra 300,000 people would be needed for the nation’s technology workforce by 2030.

Having previously argued around one million “near tech” Australian workers could be reskilled for jobs in areas such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, ACS CEO Josh Griggs pushed the government to expand professional skills frameworks to “enable rapid upskilling”.

“The talent is here, the ambition is here,” said Griggs, who called for “continued support for skills development and migration to address our tech talent shortages”.

The government should fast-track Jobs and Skills Australia’s ongoing development of a Nationals Skills Taxonomy to reduce mismatches between jobs and workers’ skills, ACS said.

It also urged Labor to invest in a so-called National Digital Skills Passport to formally recognise lifelong and informal learning, while also providing more opportunities for Australians to gain qualifications through vocational and higher education.

Labor has vowed to continue supporting hundreds of thousands of fee-free TAFE places, which saw around 50,000 enrollments in digital and tech courses between January 2023 and 30 June 2024.

“We will be a government for every Australian who wants to train or retrain in new skills and a good job at public TAFE,” Albanese said on Saturday.


[L-R] ACS CEO Josh Griggs, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, and ACS chief groth office Genevieve Reid in April. Photo: ACS

Griggs said government ministers recently told ACS they were interested in strengthening Australia’s skills development, as well as its cybersecurity and AI regulations.

He said ACS also urged the re-elected government to prioritise online safety measures, as well as energy infrastructure amid increased demand from data centres.

ACS President Helen McHugh said Australia was "at a crossroads” when it came to capitalising on its digital and scientific innovations, and learning was central to that opportunity.

"We have world-class researchers, bold entrepreneurs, and a highly educated workforce — but they’re being held back by outdated systems and fragmented policy,” she said.

“The next government must embrace a bold, forward-thinking agenda that invests in people and ideas.

“That means recognising all forms of learning, supporting pathways between education and work, and creating the conditions for innovation to thrive here.”

'Connect the dots’ between skills and commercialisation

ACS also called on the government to focus on translating skills into innovations which could be commercialised.

Labor initiated an independent review of the nation's flailing research and development (R&D) environment in 2024, which it admitted had seen Australia “virtually giving [its] world-class science away for free”.

ACS recommended the government prioritise implementing reforms through the R&D review, as well as by developing a long-term innovation strategy, expanding public-private co-investments, and using government procurement to support local firms.

Australia needed a “unified, national approach to developing skills and translating innovation into impact”, said Griggs, who argued the issues were “central” to the nation’s prosperity.

“Australia has the ingenuity, the research capability, and the talent to thrive in today’s digital economy,” he said.

“We’re calling for government and leaders to connect the dots: from digital skills, lifelong learning, and alternative pathways to venture capital and commercialisation.”

Labor has vowed to continue investing in Australian companies through the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) which the Coalition reportedly planned to close to help fund its nuclear plan, had it won government.