Working nation: the white paper on employment and growth

This white paper describes the Commonwealth Government's plan for achieving economic growth in Australia, and increasing employment opportunities for urban, rural and regional Australia. The policies were intended to reduce the number of unemployed, and aimed to reach an unemployment rate of five per cent by the end of the century and to set new goals for education and training, for economic efficiency, for income support arrangements and for industry. The paper argues that unemployment inhibits growth, so that reducing unemployment is an essential part of getting the economy onto a...  [+] Show more

This white paper describes the Commonwealth Government's plan for achieving economic growth in Australia, and increasing employment opportunities for urban, rural and regional Australia. The policies were intended to reduce the number of unemployed, and aimed to reach an unemployment rate of five per cent by the end of the century and to set new goals for education and training, for economic efficiency, for income support arrangements and for industry. The paper argues that unemployment inhibits growth, so that reducing unemployment is an essential part of getting the economy onto a sustainable growth path. It outlines the measures planned, including increased spending on employment and training, new income support measures, industry, science and trade initiatives and specific regional development initiatives. Planned reforms include reforms to labour market assistance, training and education reforms, a restructured social security system, a strategy to help regional Australia, workplace agreements to produce a more flexible and responsive workforce, and microeconomic reforms to industry policy. Training reforms include entry level training measures and a youth training initiative.

Volume one provides an outline of the policies and programs and volume two provides additional detail on the rationale behind the policies and the way in which the various initiatives will interact in working towards the goal of reducing unemployment.