Grant Thornton Australia | Audit, Tax and Advisory
Insights
Reports
Mid-sized Business Report
Investment in education pays dividends for the wider economy

Mid-sized business report

Investment in education pays dividends for the wider economy

Stuart McDowall 03 Jun 2019

The education sector plays a vital role in our economic growth and productivity, as well as our social cohesion and quality of life.

Investments made in this sector have a flow-on effect to all other sectors, which can be seen through measures such as workforce participation, labour productivity, the availability of necessary vocational and professional skills, and advances in research and innovation; all critical elements of our global attractiveness for investment.

As a nation, we have among the highest levels of education in the world – in the top 10 OECD countries for the number of 25 – 34 year-olds with tertiary education in 2017. But are they the right skills for the future workforce? Do we have our foundations right?

According to the OECD we spend less on early childhood education as a proportion of GDP, but then the duration of early childhood education in Australia is shorter. Yet, research tells us that the first 1,000 days of a child’s life are pivotal in their development – including how they perform socially and academically. Fostering the right environment for learning, collaboration and wellbeing for all ages sets the nation up for future success.

And depending on how you measure the academic performance of our school students, our progress in this area has not been as fast as many other OECD countries.

Download our mid-sized business report to read the full Education insight.

Download report

Download PDF [5091 kb]

Here is a short introduction to our three recommendations to help boost the Education sector:

Additional investment in childcare and early years education

Universal access to early childhood education is currently available for four year olds, but there is emerging interest in extending this to three year olds. This would be a welcome initiative which – should the newly returned Liberal Government choose to pursue – would assist to bring our expenditure on early childhood education more in line with many of our counterparts in developed countries.

Enable a more responsive VET sector

An independent review of the VET sector, delivered in March 2019 included 71 recommendations across funding, policy and regulation – the key takeout being that businesses were losing confidence in VET and that class-room based learning alone does not adequately prepare vocational students to transition into the workforce.

Continued support for STEAM

Skills demanded by the labour market are changing. Technological change and global competition demand the mastery of new competencies and the acquisition of new skills for many. This can be seen in the increasing prevalence of robotics, automation and online service delivery in many sectors.

Insight Setting up a business presence in Australia We have all seen the impact COVID-19 has had not only on businesses in general, but more broadly the global economy. Read full article

Watch on-demand The future of work: Managing your global talent The coronavirus pandemic has pushed many businesses to rethink how we work. Read full article

Federal Budget A focus on sovereign capability could transform the agribus Australia produces a lot of food. We are a unique market in that we cannot consume everything that we produce – we must export. Read full article

Federal Budget Is there cause for health sector optimism in a COVID-normal The healthcare system in Australia is not without its challenges. Read full article

Federal Budget Sovereign capability and a manufacturing renaissance Once upon a time, certainly in living memory, Australia had a thriving and diverse manufacturing sector. Read full article

Federal Budget Professional services is the oil in the engine of economic Modern Australia has a vibrant knowledge economy. Highly skilled lawyers, accountants, engineers, architects, consultants and business managers contribute not only to our own economy but to the global one as well. Read full article

Federal Budget Opportunities for real estate & construction outside of the The last few years have by and large been spent tightening the taxation screws on property investors in an attempt to deal with the housing affordability issue – but it has been a blanket approach. Read full article

Federal Budget Our financial services sector is resilient but it’s not a b The first bank in Australia, Bank of New South Wales, was established more than 200 years ago in 1817. Read full article

Federal Budget Not-for-profits are an essential service in need of a bette The not-for-profit sector is diverse with more than 600,000 not-for-profit organisations and nearly 5,000 trusts and foundations – delivering a variety of services, including education, health, aged care, disability services and social services. Read full article

Federal Budget It’s time to remove the great blind spots in our resource s Largely left to operate on its own, the resources sector has been a stalwart of the Australian economy. Read full article

Federal Budget The education sector will underpin the Government’s plans f The education sector has experienced a tumultuous few years. Read full article

Subscribe to receive our publications

Subscribe now to be kept up-to-date with timely and relevant insights, unique to the nature of your business, your areas of interest and the industry in which you operate.

Also appears under...