“Without a sweeping reform of the education system, Australia will not address the significant skills deficits
that are abundantly apparent in the economy,” says IPA chief executive officer Andrew Conway.
“Where businesses have a high demand for skilled labour but are constrained by lack of resources, then there is a prima facie case for government intervention.
“We believe the strongest argument for government intervention relates to the potential for positive spillover into the wider economy, as highly skilled workers move around employers and disseminate their knowledge.”
Conway points to recent research showing that one in six businesses in Australia faces a problem involving
skills deficiencies.
“According to research undertaken by Deakin University as part of the joint Australian Small Business White Paper, some 64,000 businesses have an identifiable skills deficiency in relation to finance professionals, 55,000 in relation to marketing professionals and 45,000 businesses are deficient in IT professionals,”
he says.
“This indicates that while there may be trade skill shortages relating to the construction boom, there is a
bigger problem on the horizon with deficiencies in high value-added professional services.”
Conway says that to stem the tide of skills shortages, the IPA is “urging governments to consider the inclusion
of enterprise training at all levels of the education system from early school years to further and higher
education institutions”.
To read the Australian Small Business White Paper, visit: https://www.publicaccountants.org.au/resources/small-business-white-paper
