The Federal Government is considering a plan to extend a special 457 visa program designed for the resources sector to the telecommunications industry, to allow it to expedite the import of large numbers of skilled workers.

The Gillard Government has re-jigged its 457 visa program, with the Immigration Department speeding up processing times for employers seeking to bring in foriegn workers and doubling to six years the duration of the long-stay visa.

The long anticipated IT skills shortage has re-emerged with a shortfall of 2,800 people recorded in the September Clarius Skills Index and signs that salaries have started to rise – in some cases by up to 20 per cent.

Australia's skilled migration program is to be overhauled mid-year with the scrapping of the wide-ranging Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) in favour of a new system that it says will better target skills in short supply.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans has further tightened the rules for companies seeking to import skilled workers on short-stay visas, introducing measures to make sure employees from overseas don’t get ripped off - and that local workers aren't priced out of the market.

Australian education and immigration authorities should dramatically increase local ICT graduate numbers to plug holes in the nation’s tech skills supply rather than relying on greater numbers of 457 short-stay visa holders, Monash University immigration expert Bob Birrell says.