The Coalition’s Budget Reply proposes education, skills and training policies to support employers in developing local talent. However, more needs to be done to enable access to global talent to reverse Australia’s productivity slowdown and raise real wage growth and living standards.

School curriculum to teach core fundamentals

CA ANZ commends the Coalition's proposal to teach core fundamentals in the school curriculum, such as critical thinking and responsible citizenship.

To prepare students for a rapidly changing world, back-to-basics literacy and numeracy education should not be limited to reading, writing, maths and science. AI, digital, financial literacy, accounting sustainability and technology skills should also be in scope. Financial literacy skills are particularly important given the declining levels amongst 15 to 24-year olds in Australia.

More schools should be supported to offer accounting subjects. A robust national senior secondary accounting curriculum that better reflects the role of modern accountants, is more outcomes-focused, and improves financial literacy should also be introduced.

Ahead of the federal election on 3 May, Australians will also want to understand the Coalition’s policies to support our struggling higher education sector and students. Increasing Commonwealth contributions, and reducing student contributions, to the cost of university courses would be well received, particularly in areas of national shortage which will support Australia’s future STEM workforce, such as accounting.

Apprentices and trainees target and hiring incentive 

The Coalition announced a target of 400,000 apprentices and trainees in training across Australia. If elected, the Coalition will also provide eligible small and medium businesses with a $12,000 incentive payment to hire an apprentice or trainee in critical skills areas for the first two years of their training.

CA ANZ supports measures which increase participation in and completion of high-quality paid apprenticeships and traineeships and ensure the incentive systems are effective and responsive to the needs of the labour market and key stakeholders.

However, this initiative should not be focused solely on the building and construction sector when support is required by all occupations in shortage, including accounting. CA ANZ’s recent online survey of 395 Australian members who advertised vacancies in Australia between January and December 2024 found shortages of six accounting, audit and finance occupations.

With career paths becoming more fluid and degrees and living costs less affordable, apprenticeships and traineeships will become increasingly in demand, particularly in areas of the labour market such as accounting where supply is struggling to keep up with increasing demand. The government’s employment projections show that an extra 32,400 accountants will be required by May 2034.

Cut to permanent migration and stricter caps on foreign students

A Coalition Government will cut permanent migration by 25 per cent. No target was set for net overseas migration which the budget forecasts will fall from 335,000 in 2025-26 to 225,000 in 2026-27. If elected, the Coalition will also introduce stricter caps on foreign students.

Permanent migration cuts and stricter caps on foreign students are a blunt way to rebalance Australia’s broken migration system and this won’t magically ‘free up housing’, ‘relieve stress on rental markets’ or ‘reduce pressure on infrastructure and services’ for Australians.

As outlined in our policy asks for the election, CA ANZ supports refocusing the migration system on skills and migrant quality rather than quantity, to boost Australia’s productivity, increase human capital and tackle skill shortages. Proper planning, coordination and infrastructure investment are required at all levels of government to ensure housing supply meets demand.