Australia’s long-term economic prosperity is under threat due to a sustained slowdown in productivity growth. Structural challenges have exacerbated this and the policy responses to COVID-19 may have hindered longer-term productivity growth. Renewed reform and innovation could reverse this trend. This paper outlines the issue and explores how Australia can improve its labour productivity.

AI can significantly reduce time spent on government tasks. This report describes a trial of 20,000 civil servants in the United Kingdom, showing they could save nearly two weeks each annually by using the technology. It suggests AI tools have the potential to transform productivity and public service delivery at scale.

This paper examines the rapid rise, and subsequent rapid decline, in labour productivity over the COVID-19 pandemic. It finds Australia’s productivity performance during the pandemic presents no clear long-term implications. This further emphasises the need to address Australia’s long-run productivity problem.

This brief discusses how unlocking the full economic potential of women requires tackling systemic barriers – from biased workplace cultures and underinvestment to gender gaps in education, leadership and funding – through inclusive policies, early education reform and diversity-focused business incentives.

This report assesses the cost and offsetting financial benefits of implementing a universal reproductive health leave entitlement for Australian workers. The value of lost productivity cost from reproductive health conditions is estimated at $21.3 billion per year. The aggregate net cost of up to 12 days of leave is estimated to be $1.7 billion.