Introduction

Future Skills Organisation (FSO) is a Jobs and Skills Council focused on the skills needed for careers in the finance, technology and business sectors.

FSO undertakes annual workforce planning, which provides the evidence base to understand current, emerging and future workforce challenges and opportunities and is used to drive our programme of activities. As part of this work, FSO is consulting with a broad range of stakeholders to understand real-world experiences of sector trends, skills in transition, and training pathways.

For more information about workforce planning, or to access previous plans, please visit the FSO website.

This survey should take approximately 20-30 minutes to complete. This survey will close at 5pm AEDT, Thursday 30 April 2026.

Focus of this survey

This survey is examining the finance, technology and business sectors. In this survey, “sector” refers to the part of the finance, technology or business ecosystem most relevant to your role.

Survey focus areas:

Finance, technology and business sector trends: Changes within these sectors, skills requirements, and recruitment trends.
Feedback on Financial Services (FNS), Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Business Services (BSB) training package products.

This survey complements existing FSO work, including previous consultation and current projects. Information will be shared with FSO project teams where relevant, however the survey aims to avoid duplication with other projects or consultation currently underway.

When responding to these questions, please respond based on your experience of any and all parts of finance, technology, and business sectors relevant to you.

Privacy and consent

Participation in this survey is voluntary, and you may choose to stop the survey at any time before submission. You may also withdraw your data up until two weeks after the consultation (i.e. the date you submit this survey). To withdraw, please contact the Workforce Research team via email at workforceresearch@futureskillsorganisation.com.au.

FSO’s privacy policy provides detail regarding how we manage data. Data will be retained within Australia and safeguarded in accordance with strict security standards.

Data, including names and contact details, may be shared with specific stakeholders (e.g., funding bodies, partner organisations) for purposes directly related to the original project or other FSO work, including training product development activities. FSO will never share your personal or consultation data with third parties for unrelated purposes. Public reporting related to this project will include only de-identified data.

By proceeding with the survey, you indicate that you have read and understood this information and provide your informed consent to participate.

I have read the privacy and consent information, and consent to participate in this survey *

Background and demographics

Full Name *

Contact email address *

Job title *

Organisation name *

Which sector do you primarily work in? *

FinanceTechnologyBusinessOther (please specify)

Which sections of the survey would you like to respond to? (Select all that apply) *

Finance, technology and business sector trends: Changes within these sectors, skills requirements, and recruitment trends.Feedback on Financial Services (FNS), Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Business Services (BSB) training package products.

Finance, technology, and business sector trends

This section focuses on workforce changes in the finance, technology and business sectors. When responding to these questions, please respond based on your experience of any and all parts of finance, technology, and business sectors relevant to you.

All questions are optional.

Over the past 12 months, what is the most significant change you have seen in your sector? This does not need to be related to workforce development.

Over the next 5 years, what emerging or potential trends are you expecting to impact your sector? (E.g. new technology, policy changes, market shifts)

Please provide feedback on how and why your selections are priorities.

Skills and roles in transition

How have the skills needed within finance, technology and business roles changed over the past 12 months?

Please add the role title and briefly explain how skills have changed. You can add as many roles as you wish by using the 'Add job title' button.

Job role title

How have skills changed

What changes have most significantly contributed to this shift in skills? (Select all that apply)

New or updated compliance and regulatory requirements Adoption of new technologies, software or digital platforms Automation of previously manual tasks Organisational restructuring or role redesign Changes to how products or services are delivered Shifting employee expectations around flexibility and ways of working Increased focus on data-driven decision making Other (please specify)

Do changing skills requirements affect participation or career progression differently for any groups or cohorts? Please specify the group or cohort, and any key differences.

FSO is seeking feedback on Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA) roles within the finance, tech and business sectors, to support our engagement with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The OSCA classification provides a consistent way to classify occupations jobs so the ABS, utilising mechanisms like the National Census, can inform decisions on workforce planning, skills pathways and skilled migration.

To provide additional feedback, please complete the relevant forms:

Generalist skills and capabilities

The following questions focus on skills and capabilities that apply across many roles, rather than technical or specialist expertise tied to a specific role. Examples of these generalist skills and capabilities include communication, problem solving, collaboration, leadership or digital literacy.

Are there any frameworks, models or structured approaches to describe generalist skills or capabilities in use in your sector?

Yes No Unsure / I don't know

Please list any relevant frameworks.

What are the most important generalist skills or capabilities in the finance, technology and business sectors?

What generalist skills or capabilities are most underserved by formal training systems (schooling, vocational education and training, and higher education)?

Recruitment trends

Are there roles that are difficult to fill in the finance, technology or business sectors?

YesNoUnsure / I don’t know

What are the hardest roles to fill in the finance, technology and business sectors right now?

Please add the role title and briefly explain why they are difficult to fill. You can add as many roles as you wish by using the 'Add job title' button.

Job role title

Why are they difficult to fill

To what extent has skills-based hiring (recruiting for skills and potential rather than qualification) become a feature of your sector?

Not at all: qualifications still essentialMarginally: considered alongside qualificationsModerately: increasingly common, especially for some rolesSignificantly: now standard practice in many rolesUnsure / I don’t knowOther (please specify)

Please describe why you think skills-based hiring is or isn’t becoming a feature.

Training product feedback

This section seeks your feedback on the VET training products under FSO's remit: the FNS (Financial Services), ICT (Information and Communications Technology) and BSB (Business Services) training packages.

FSO is undertaking a number of training package projects across all three training packages:

FNS:
- Sustainable Finance Disclosures
- Diploma / Cert IV in Finance and Mortgage Broking.
ICT:
- Specialist Artificial Intelligence
- Specialist Cyber Security Skills
- Telecommunications technology qualifications update
- Information and Communication Technology update.
BSB:
- Uplift Digital Capability
- Safe and Respectful Workplaces.

Where relevant, responses from this section will be provided for use in these projects.

FNS – Financial Services training package

Do you have feedback on products in the FNS training package?

Please add the qualification, skill set or unit of competency code and/or title along with feedback, indicate how urgent changes are, and rationale for this urgency rating. You can add as many items as you wish by using the 'Add training product' button.

Code and/or title

Feedback

Urgency rating

Urgency rationale

Are there workforce or skills needs in the financial services sector that are not currently addressed in the FNS training package or current projects, and that you believe should be investigated for a new qualification, skill set, unit of competency, or Vocational Degree?

ICT – Information and Communications Technology training package

Do you have feedback on products in the ICT training package?

Code and/or title

Feedback

Urgency rating

Urgency rationale

Are there workforce or skills needs in the technology services sector that are not currently addressed in the ICT training package or current projects, and that you believe should be investigated for a new qualification, skill set, unit of competency, or Vocational Degree?

BSB – Business Services training package

Do you have feedback on products in the BSB training package?

Code and/or title

Feedback

Urgency rating

Urgency rationale

Are there workforce or skills needs in the business services sector that are not currently addressed in the BSB training package or current projects, and that you believe should be investigated for a new qualification, skill set, unit of competency, or Vocational Degree?

Additional comments

Is there anything else you would like to share with FSO about workforce trends, skills needs or training products in the finance, technology and business sectors that has not been covered in this survey?

Would you be willing to be contacted by FSO for a follow-up conversation to discuss your responses in more detail?

Yes — please contact meNo — survey response only

Thank you for your contribution.

If you wish to review your responses before submitting, please use thePreviousbutton to navigate to earlier pages.

Your insights help FSO build a stronger, more responsive VET system for the finance, technology and business sectors.