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.

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