Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator White for the question and for highlighting the importance of the employment white paper which the government released in late September. The employment white paper outlines our vision for a strong and inclusive labour market, one where everyone has the opportunity for secure, fairly paid work and where people, businesses and communities can be the beneficiaries of that. The white paper is about five things: delivering sustained and inclusive full employment; promoting job security and strong, sustainable wage growth; reigniting productivity growth; filling skills needs and building our future workforce; and overcoming barriers to employment and broadening opportunity. The white paper provides the roadmap to make sure that our labour market is in the best shape possible for the future.

We do face some challenges in the economy, including an aging population, rising demand for care and support services, technological and digital transformation, the climate change and net zero transformation that's occurring across our economy, and geopolitical risk and fragmentation. We have a plan to harness the opportunities for Australian workers. These include the areas that I've just outlined, like jobs in the net zero economy and jobs in the care economy, and reducing barriers to work for people from more diverse backgrounds, allowing greater participation for women in the economy, expanding our skills base, reforming the migration system and broadening access to foundational skills. These are all really important areas for us to focus on as we work together to ensure that everybody who wants a job across the economy can get that job and, more importantly, that they're given the skills and opportunities in the lead-up to that to be prepared for the jobs of the future.