Clarify the capability required to keep the lights on!
Identify the capability that needs to be built in-house compared to what is sought from the market.
Reducing reliance on contractors and external labour hires is core to the government’s agenda for efficient and effective delivery of public services. To ensure the APS can deliver both current service requirements and the government’s digital transformation priorities, it is essential to identify which digital capabilities are critical to these roles.
By understanding which capabilities need to be developed in-house versus those best sourced from the market, the APS can take a more strategic and deliberate approach to capability development and outsourcing. This includes clarifying what roles are:
- Foundational: essential to maintain operations and service continuity.
- Niche and Specialist: enabling innovation, digital uplift, and future-readiness. Often specialised, rapidly evolving, and central to delivering on reform and transformation.
The Strategic Commissioning Framework, a government commitment to reduce outsourcing of core public service work, offers APS agencies an opportunity to clarify core work for digital roles.
Top in-demand APS roles
Most difficult skills to find
- Cyber Security Specialist
- Enterprise/Technology Architect
- ICT/Digital Project Management
- IT Systems Architect
- ICT Project Specialist
Most in-demand Contractors
- Software Engineer
- Infrastructure Engineer
- IT Architect
- Test Analysis/Performance Tester
- ICT Project Specialist
DTA June 2025 Agency Survey and Digital Marketplace
Top in-demand skills in the ICT industry - an evolution
Ranked across 3-year increments - per: Computerworld 2011-2015, IT Career Finder 2022-2023, Skillaroo 2024, and Latitude IT 2025
| Pre-industry 4.0 | GenAI Emergers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2015 | 2021 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Programming & Application Development | Programming & Application Development | Cybersecurity | AI / Machine Learning | AI / Machine Learning |
| Project Management | Project Management | Big Data and Internet of Things | Cloud Computing | Cloud Computing |
| Help Desk / Technical Support | Help Desk / Technical Support | AI / Machine Learning | IT Systems and Support | Cybersecurity |
| Networking | Security / Compliance Governance | Cloud Computing | Full-Stack Development | Data Science and Analytics |
| Business Intelligence | Web Development | Software Development | Data Science and Analytics | Software Development |
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Questions for agency consideration:
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Exploring whole-of-APS opportunities: