The National Accounts released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed Australia has entered its first recession in 29 years. But how does Australia’s economic performance compare with other countries?
The COVID-19 crisis has had severe impacts on the domestic and global economies, and it has unleashed a plethora of suggestions about how Australia can return to pre-COVID-19 times when we were setting world records for the longevity of our…
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New research released by the National Skills Commission has identified 25 emerging occupations that have evolved as the way we work changes. Heavily based around technology, these occupations have been identified by combining traditional and near real time data using…
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While Australia was one of the earlier countries outside of China to record COVID-19 cases, by June we were congratulating ourselves, with apparent justification, for the success we had in flattening the curve. We now know that we spoke too…
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The OECD recently updated its comparison of global minimum wages for all countries that have a national minimum wage. In 2019, Australia overtook Luxembourg as having the highest minimum wage in the world. In the previous year’s comparison, Australia had…
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Recent examples of PhD and Masters by Research students solving companies’ business problems reinforce the benefits they can bring to any business. One example of a successful collaboration connected a PhD student with Australian Vinegar, a company that has created…
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The pandemic is having a big impact on apprenticeship and traineeship numbers. Real-time data is hard to come by but one recent forecast by the Mitchell Institute was that currently enrolled apprentices/trainees would decline by approximately 20 per cent. With…
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One of the common catch cries of the COVID-19 period (other than ‘where is the toilet paper!?’) has been ‘never waste a crisis’. It’s hard to surf LinkedIn or other social media platforms without being hit in the face with…
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As Australia moves to re-establish and grow its economy, particularly in manufacturing areas, the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) skills shortfall that has been experienced for some years must be remedied. The crisis has served to highlight STEM skills…
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A big impact of COVID-19 has been its effect on attendance at education and training programs. Universities and TAFEs are still largely closed to physical attendance by students and apprentices, and generally companies are not allowing staff to attend training…
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