July 2025
Building a Skilled and Adaptable Workforce to Enhance National Productivity
The Australian Government’s Economic Reform Roundtable, August 2025, reflects FSO’s mission of working with industry, unions, governments, and the tertiary education and training sector to collectively benefit employers, employees, and the economy through skills increasing innovation and uplifting productivity.
Key national priority policy reform agendas to drive enhanced national productivity include:
- Skills significantly drive productivity by enhancing efficacy and efficiency of performance.
- Investing in skill development fosters continuous improvement and innovation within organisations.
- There is a productivity opportunity offered by the adoption of artificial intelligence and generalist skills.
To uplift AI skills Australia must commit to a bold, nationally coordinated effort to position Australia as a global leader in AI-enabled workforce development. A three-part strategy means:
- Delivering immediate essential skills programs to help uplift AI literacy across the workforce, support educators, and empower learners.
- Developing robust foundational structures combined with a National AI Skills Accelerator.
- Investing in long-term applied research with industry to guide sustainable success.