The vocational education and training (VET) system will play a key role in supporting Australia’s recovery from the unprecedented impacts of COVID-19. However, the sector has faced a range of enduring challenges, and is not currently equipped to respond effectively to many of the questions and issues posed by the pandemic, according to this report.

The enormous opportunity to address the economic impacts of COVID-19 and climate change simultaneously is unprecedented. So what should we do? This policy discussion paper addresses the opportunities and threats that the current circumstances present.

This report describes the strategic importance of the manufacturing sector to Australia's future prosperity, and provides an inventory of policy tools that could help rebuild the sector to a size proportional to Australia's domestic needs for manufactured products.

This paper argues that subsidising the gas industry is a very poor option for stimulus and recovery spending. It would provide few jobs and would not bring down energy prices. The authors believe that there are many electrical alternatives to gas for manufacturing that are far cheaper than gas.

This discussion paper outlines how the JobKeeper scheme is encouraging businesses to dismiss ineligible employees, meaning casuals employed for less than a year and non-resident workers have been disproportionately affected by job losses in recent months.