outsourcing is an issue, but not a big problem. dont worry too much about it (unless you want to work in a call centre, which i hope you dont). there will never be a large amount of research in australia, for a number of reasons, but mainly we're too small. noone takes IT seriously politically (cough minister for arts and IT .. great match there). this is why you find minimal commentary on the industry. the australian has an IT section every tuesday, but it is bascially press releases rehashed. as always i reccomend you read the economist, a global paper.
over the last 3 - 4 years i would on average get offered full time roles about 4 times a year. this includes a serious downturn in the industry. there will always be plenty of IT work in australia, but it will all be fairly straightforward. no super sexy research or interesting startups, as a rule. theres just not the market for it in australia, compared to other places in the world.
if you are good at what you do, can operate effectively in business (ie your not an autistic anti-social twat), you will do well. at one of the places i work we are looking at hiring someone. we have interviewed about 20 people, and about 90% of them are just in it for the money. they'll come along, do mediocre work for a while until they get a better offer and then they're off.
there are a shitload of idiots in IT. i promise you, there is nothing worse in IT than someone who thinks they understand but really doesnt. they will fuck things up so hard it makes your eyes water.
one of the problems is computing degrees. some of the best people in IT i know do not have degrees. computing degrees have value, but they really have little to no bearing on real world IT. however, this creates a body of people who think they understand but really they dont, and as i said above fuck things up real well. it also means people who do know whats going on but dont have degrees will generally not be hired, due to intellectual snobbery in HR policies. this, coupled with lack of government carefactor, is a big, real, problem.
