Key Points
- The summit - a Labor election promise - aims to address Australia's economic challenges.
- Here's what's set to be discussed.
Keeping unemployment at record low levels will be the first topic of discussion at the jobs and skills summit next week.
The unemployment rate fell to 3.5 per cent in July, according to official jobs data released last week, with more jobs now available in Australia than unemployed people to fill them.
Australia's will also feature prominently on the two-day agenda, with the possibility of raising the cap for surfacing as key issues in the lead-up to the event.
Growing wages "sustainably" will also be discussed. This follows subdued wage figures for the last quarter that showed .
Australia's bargaining system will also be on the agenda, which Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles wants to see overhauled.
It was worth noting that "employers concede that there are real issues with the enterprise bargaining system", he told the Nine Network on Thursday.
"We do need to be thinking about how we can reform the enterprise bargaining system in a way that gets productivity growing," he said.
Discussions are also set to cover the job-creating potential of the energy transition and outline the mega-trends shaping the jobs of the future.
Mr Marles said he was confident of a compromise between unions and businesses.
"Part of that is about bringing Australia around a table so that we can actually have a conversation," he said.
"We've not really had that over the last decade, that's why everyone is really looking forward to next week."
Opportunities to boost workforce participation will also be on the agenda.
The summit will feature keynote addresses from Grattan Institute head Danielle Wood and economist and climate expert Ross Garnaut.
Summit just 'one step' to solving problems
The government claims to have spoken to "hundreds if not thousands" of people at summits and roundtables ahead of the event.
"We know we can't solve every problem in two days and we've never pretended we could," Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.
"The summit is a big step but it's just one step."
The summit - a Labor election promise - aims to address Australia's economic challenges and will bring together about 100 representatives from the business, union and community sectors.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will not attend, but Nationals leader David Littleproud plans to sit in to ensure rural and regional interests are represented.
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley says the Labor government is "not a friend" of business.
"Their instincts are to always back what the unions want first," Ms Ley said in a speech to business leaders on Tuesday.
The Opposition has been calling for pensioners and veterans to be allowed to work more before their payments are reduced as a solution to labour shortages.
Mr Marles said the previous coalition government had been responsible for the economic conditions Labor had been left with in office.
"We need to be talking about how we get wages going again in this country. That has been really part of what's defined the last decade under the former government," he said.
"We have had record low wage growth but what underpins that has been insipid productivity growth."
