This paper sets out the vision the Business Council of Australia has of creating a culture of lifelong learning and building a universal education system for Australians across schools, vocational education and training (VET), and higher education (HE).

The Business Council aspires to a society with greater equality of opportunity, where anyone – regardless of their upbringing – has every chance to realise their potential.

We also want a society with a strong business community that can employ more Australians on higher wages and attract the best talent and investment from around the globe.

But to build and maintain such a society and economy in the modern world is a significant challenge. We are living through a period of change, the pace and scale of which is unprecedented.

To survive these seismic changes, Australia will need to be out in front across all major areas of public policy, but no more so than in our education system.