Australia
Australia's economy has undergone steady growth and a general decoupling of environmental pressures. This chapter reviews efforts to mainstream environmental considerations into economic policy and promote green growth. It analyses progress in using economic and tax policies to pursue environmental objectives and discusses environmentally harmful subsidies. The chapter examines efforts to scale up measures to promote low-carbon energy and transport infrastructure and support eco-innovation as a source of economic and employment growth. It also reviews progress in mainstreaming environment in development co-operation and trade.
Stimulating job creation at the local level requires integrated actions across the employment, training and economic development portfolios. Co-ordinated place-based policies can help workers find suitable jobs, while also contributing to shaping the demand, thereby stimulating job creation and productivity. This requires flexible policy management frameworks, information and integrated partnerships which leverage the efforts of employment, training and economic development stakeholders. This chapter outlines the key recommendations emerging from the review of local job creation policies in Australia.
Australia is making great efforts to promote development through avenues other than its aid programme: it is engaging more strategically on global issues internationally, and contributes through high-level political leadership to implementing global public policies such as climate change and peace and stability. Australia’s ambition to match its growing weight in the global economy with shouldering a fair share of the burden in addressing global development challenges is commendable.
Skills are central to the capacity of countries and people to thrive in a rapidly changing world. Recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic will require countries to co-ordinate interventions to help recent graduates find jobs, reactivate the skills of displaced workers and use skills effectively in workplaces. Megatrends such as globalisation, climate change, technological progress and demographic change will continue to reshape work and society. Countries should take action now to develop and use more effectively the skills required for the world of the future and at the same time make their skills systems more resilient and adaptable in the context of change and uncertainty.
The OECD Skills Strategy provides countries with a strategic approach to assess their skills challenges and opportunities. The foundation of this approach is the OECD Skills Strategy framework allowing countries to explore how they can improve i) developing relevant skills, ii) using skills effectively, and iii) strengthening the governance of the skills system.
This report applies the OECD Skills Strategy framework to Southeast Asia, providing an overview of the region’s skills challenges and opportunities in the context of COVID-19 and megatrends, and identifying good practices for improving skills outcomes. This report lays the foundation for a more fully elaborated Skills Strategy for Southeast Asia.