The federal government’s Universities Accord reforms set the policy vision for improved productivity in Australia’s education and research sector. This paper provides reasons to accelerate the government’s reforms, outlining 25 practical recommendations for lifting Australia’s productivity and building a resilient economy. It notes Australia’s productivity challenge won’t be solved by a single reform. It requires coordinated action across education, industry and research.

Key messages

• Fund work-integrated learning and make it universal. 
• Build one connected, lifelong tertiary system. 
• Reward real-world research impact and connect small and medium enterprises.
• Give research stable funding and back innovation precincts. 
• Set a coordinated international education strategy. 

The paper proposes three sets of productivity solutions:

1. preparing a skilled and adaptable workforce
2. advancing applied research with real-world impact
3. leveraging Australia’s international education strengths.