Australia needs to improve its’ productivity if it is to enjoy another 26 years of growth. While investment in infrastructure, skills and technology will help, a new report issued by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science has proven, unsurprisingly,…
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In 2019, (Un)Equal Pay Day will be on 28 August. This date is calculated by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) to mark the 59 additional days from the end of the previous financial year that women, on average, must…
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The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) has published its apprenticeship and traineeship completion rates for 2018, with this year’s results revealing a continued decline in completion rates. The data takes commencement numbers from four years previously for trade…
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Australia’s commitments under the Paris Agreement are often invoked in domestic policy debate and politics, but are not widely understood. This post explains Paris further – and drills down to what it all means for industry. The Paris Agreement came…
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With Boris Johnston newly appointed as the UK’s Prime Minister, it seems more likely that the UK will leave the EU on 31 October 2019 without a deal, and even if there is a deal, they will not be part…
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With all the noise about tariff wars, free trade agreements and WTO rules, it’s clear that many people don’t actually understand global supply chains and their interactions with the various rules that govern regional and global trade. As with many…
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The Commonwealth Government has reviewed the employer incentives it provides for Australian Apprenticeships and has made some revisions which commenced on 1 July 2019. The existing incentives for apprentices and trainees remain, but three new incentives apply. The Australian Apprentice…
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Young people in Australia experience higher levels of unemployment than the rest of the population. This is for a variety of reasons including a perceived or real lack of experience and skills, a mismatch between the supply and demand of…
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The complexity and importance of energy sits awkwardly with simple regulation-versus-deregulation arguments. The energy markets need a lot of rules to work at all; natural network monopolies require regulation to protect consumers who are stuck with the bill; but successive…
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Australia’s sluggish economic performance in late 2018 has continued into early 2019. In the first quarter of 2019, economic growth slowed to just 1.8% over the year. This is the slowest rate of economic growth since the height of the…
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