West Australians will be at the forefront of the tech revolution with a new training hub to be centred in Perth to up-skill workers for the most in-demand IT jobs.

Labor will today announce $3 million in seed funding for a specialised Blockchain Academy in Perth if it secures government on May 18.

It is expected the academy, which will require additional investment from business, could see thousands of West Australians up-skilled to use Blockchain – which is being used by the financial services, energy and mining sectors as a more secure way to transfer information.

Blockchain is the first way of transferring information without relying on a third party, enabling cheaper and safer transactions between individuals and companies.

The new facility will give West Australians the edge in the tech race with our Asian counterparts and open up a line of jobs for Aussies direct to Singapore which heavily relies on the technology.

Used initially to support the growth of crypto-currencies, blockchain has been viewed as: “an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions”.

The Australian Stock Exchange yesterday opened up testing for blockchain to be used for clearing and settlement of trades.

It’s estimated that every blockchain developer could expect 14 different job opportunities, according to a report released by the Australian Computer Society and Data61

Perth has been selected as the site for the Blockchain Academy because it’s home to a growing start-up community - featuring many younger firms.

“The Blockchain Academy will play a big part in skilling up young West Australians for jobs that are in high demand,” Labor’s digital economy spokesperson Ed Husic said.

“This will help Perth link up with other global cities like Singapore that are embracing blockchain technology and whose firms are keen to tap into the skills of their neighbours.”

Leigh Travers from Blockchain Australia said the technology was “one of the most interesting technologies developed over the last few decades”.

“It’s going to create entirely new business models which will result in more jobs,” Mr Travers said.