Review of Australia’s productivity performance
Australia’s future prosperity and living standards rely on a revival in
productivity growth. The 2020 Intergenerational Report shows that
productivity has slowed to an annual average of 1.2 per cent since 2005 and
needs to return to 1.5 per cent to be consistent with the 30-year
historical average to 2018-1963 .
To positively impact productivity, the 2019 House, Income and Labour
Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey showed that there is a real need to
move away from a reliance on commodities and property to a pro-growth
productivity agenda that will provide real, sustainable growth. Such an
agenda will shift productivity from its current downward trajectory which,
according to analysis by Trading Economics, shows Australia as one of only
two G20 countries to score below 100 points for productivity. It is clear
that Australia needs to look beyond the resources and property sectors for
productivity growth.
Business investment has dramatically decreased after the end of the
2000s-2010s mining boom. Australia’s national comparative advantage will
increasingly be built on the quality of our ideas and our human capital.
This will help to address skill shortages and the flow of new technologies
and businesses.
View full submission