Annual Report 2006-07
Annual report series
The Annual Report 2006-07 was tabled in Parliament on 21 February 2008 and forms part of the Commission's annual report series.
Download the report
- Contents
- Media release
- Preliminaries (PDF - 299 Kb)
Cover, Copyright, Letter, Acknowledgments, Contents and Abbreviations
Theme chapter
Chapter 1 Enhancing labour force participation: issues and challenges (PDF - 104 Kb)How much scope to increase participation rates?
The potential gains from increased participation
Challenges in realising better labour force participation outcomes
Summing up- Chapter 2 Review of Commission activities and performance (PDF - 121 Kb)
Overview
Year in review
Transparent and consultative processes
Feedback on the Commission's work
Policy and wider impacts
Associated reporting - Appendix A Management and accountability (PDF - 208 Kb)
A1 Commissioner and employee statistics
A2 Fraud control certificate
A3 Commonwealth Disability Strategy: outcomes against performance indicators
A4 Consultancies
A5 Freedom of Information Statement
A6 Compliance index - Appendix B Program performance (PDF - 303 Kb)
- Appendix C Government commissioned projects (PDF - 81 Kb)
- Appendix D Competitive neutrality complaints (PDF - 14 Kb)
- Appendix E Supporting research and related activities (PDF - 71 Kb)
- Appendix F Publications (PDF - 26 Kb)
- Appendix G Financial statements (PDF - 230 Kb)
- References (PDF - 46 Kb)
- Index (PDF - 28 Kb)
Raising Labour Force Participation: Issues and Challenges
In its annual report, released today, the Productivity Commission focuses on the scope to raise labour force participation rates and the policy challenges involved. Commission chairman, Gary Banks observed:
'Australia has relatively low participation rates by OECD standards and also underutilises its workforce. There is potential to raise workforce participation, partly offsetting the effects of population ageing. But higher participation is not an end in itself. The goal is to enhance community wellbeing and living standards.'
The Commission identifies three broad areas where reform can contribute to improved labour force participation outcomes:
- improving the capacity of people to work, through policy measures that improve health, education and training
- enhancing incentives to work, including by measures directed at tax and income support arrangements
- creating more flexible institutional arrangements, including work arrangements and child care.
The Commission notes that developing effective policy responses to improve participation outcomes raises some difficult issues and challenges, that bear on the potential costs and benefits of reform. One includes the need to take explicit account of broader policy objectives and trade-offs. It is also important to understand the characteristics of target group(s) relative to the existing workforce. And there needs to be a realistic appreciation of the often long timeframe for benefits to materialise.
Such challenges underline the value of careful policy design and review, including learning from the experiences of different jurisdictions. The Commission emphasises that tackling policy-related impediments to participation will require actions by all governments in Australia.
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