Labor would fund girls' coding program

A Labor government would provide $4.5 million for programs to inspire girls to learn coding.

Australia is expected to need an extra 100,000 people skilled in information and communications technology by 2020 to keep pace with rising demand.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said to improve participation rates by women in technology jobs their interest needs to be sparked early.

Mr Shorten made the announcement at a coding event in Sydney's Town Hall on Wednesday morning.

Australian women have made successful careers in IT, including Google Australia managing director Maile Carnegie and Microsoft Australia managing director Pip Marlow.

Organisations such as Code Club Australia, Code Like a Girl, Robogals and Code Camp are aimed at training the MDs and CEOs of the future.

Labor will build on existing programs by making grants of up to $150,000 available to scale up their activities.

The grants will go to mentoring, networking opportunities, training for volunteer teachers and school-based programs.