Major need for economic overhaul

A major Productivity Commission review of over 1000 pages recommended that education, immigration and workplace law be overhauled. Otherwise, you could face lower wages and longer work days.

The nation's economic policies have been reviewed over five years. It is now time to overhaul its education, climate, and workplace laws. This includes expanding student loan programs, scrapping certain visa classes, and expanding Australia's climate policy.

The government assigned the Productivity Commission, the main advisory body for the Commonwealth on the economy, to examine at five-year intervals how productivity can be improved and worker wages and leisure time increased.

One of the most important recommendations was that the government's "safeguard mechanism", which would require the nation's 200 largest polluters to lower their emissions each year by 4.9%, should be expanded in order to become the central program to reduce emission.

The Productivity Commission (PC), which made more than 70 recommendations, recommended major changes in the education sector. These included reviewing the price of degrees, increasing the number of students who can borrow money, and requiring universities that all lectures be offered online.

The report recommends that immigration policy be changed from a list-based system to set a minimum wage threshold, which would increase with age and allow for longer temporary visa durations, but more difficult pathways to permanent residency. It also suggests that employers sponsor workers to make it easier for them to change employers, allowing them to experience temporary unemployment.

"Australia can navigate these problems but should do it with a clear-eyed perspective of our unique economic structure and comparative advantage. The reviewers said that openness could be different, but it will still be important.

According to the commission, if Australia had a productivity level comparable to Belgium (a country with a similar GDP per capita), the Australian work week could be cut by four hours without any income loss. This would translate into approximately one less day per week for each worker.

He stated that "precisely none" of the five-yearly reviews' recommendations were fully implemented by the previous government. While he disagreed with some of the review's recommendations, there was also agreement with the government's agenda.