Month: December 2021

Australia today signed a landmark free trade agreement with the United Kingdom that will make Australian exports to the UK cheaper, create new opportunities for workers, young people and businesses and further strengthen the special relationship between our two countries.
This is the most comprehensive and ambitious free trade agreement that Australia has concluded, other than with New Zealand. It demonstrates our countries’ commitment to free trade as a driver of economic growth and stronger bilateral relationships.
The Australia-UK FTA delivers benefits for Australians across the board:

• Exporters will benefit from immediate elimination of tariffs on over 99 per cent of Australian goods exports to the UK, valued at around $9.2 billion, when the agreement enters into force.

• Farmers will have improved access to more than 65 million UK consumers who value safe, sustainably produced foods and beverages with the strong provenance Australia offers.
  • Around $43 million in annual customs duties will be removed from Australian wine when the agreement enters into force.
  • For beef, a tariff-free quota of 35,000 tonnes at entry into force will expand to 110,000 tonnes in year 10. Tariffs on beef will be eliminated after ten years.
  • For sheep meat, a tariff-free quota of 25,000 tonnes at entry into force will expand to 75,000 in year 10. Tariffs on sheep meat will be eliminated after ten years.
  • For sugar, a tariff-free quota of 80,000 tonnes at entry into force will expand to 220,000 tonnes in year 8. Sugar tariffs will be eliminated after eight years.
• Professionals will have the same access to the UK’s lucrative jobs market as their European competitors, except from the Republic of Ireland. This means Australian job seekers can compete on an equal footing with EU nationals in the UK for the first time in more than 40 years.
• Australian households and businesses will save around $200 million a year as tariffs on British imports into Australia, such as cars, whisky, confectionery, biscuits and cosmetics, are phased out within five years, with tariffs on almost all UK goods being eliminated on entry into force.

• Young people will have more time to travel to the UK for a working holiday and will be able to stay longer, with eligibility to participate in working holiday opportunities raised from 30 to 35 years of age, and stays allowed for up to three years in each country.
• Australian businesses will have the guaranteed right to bid for a greater variety of UK government contracts in a procurement market worth an estimated half-a-trillion dollars annually.
• UK businesses will be encouraged to invest in Australia thanks to best practice investment rules, including to set up regional headquarters in Australia to leverage our network of free trade agreements.

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan signed the agreement on behalf of Australia during a virtual ceremony with the UK Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan in Adelaide today.
The Morrison Government will now work to bring the agreement into force in 2022, so Australian exporters, farmers, workers, businesses and consumers can access the benefits of this gold standard agreement as soon as possible.
When the Australia-UK FTA enters into force, around 75 per cent of Australia’s two-way trade will be covered by free trade agreements, representing preferential access to 2.9 billion customers, up from 27 per cent when the Morrison Government came to office.

Labour force figures released today by the ABS show that seasonally adjusted employment surged in November, by an unprecedented 366,100 (or 2.9 per cent) to stand at a record high of 13,177,300, exceeding market expectations. Employment is now 181,800 (or 1.4 per cent) above the level recorded in March 2020 (when Australia recorded its 100th case of COVID-19).

• Employment for women rose by a robust 215,200 (or 3.6 per cent) in November, accounting for nearly 59 per cent of total jobs growth over the month.
• Full-time employment increased by 128,300 (or 1.4 per cent) over the month, while part-time employment rose by 237,800 (or 6.1 per cent).
• The rise in employment at the national level was primarily driven by strong increases in New South Wales (up by 179,800 or 4.6 per cent) and Victoria (up by 141,000 or 4.3 per cent), reflecting the easing of restrictions in both states. Importantly, employment rose in all states and the ACT.

Against this backdrop, the level of unemployment fell by 69,400 (or 9.8 per cent) over the month, to 636,700 in November. The unemployment rate fell by 0.6 percentage points over the month, to 4.6 per cent in November, well below the 5.3 per cent recorded in March 2020.
The easing of restrictions and strong labour market conditions encouraged 296,800 people to enter the labour market in November, pushing the participation rate up by 1.4 percentage points, to 66.1 per cent in November, above the 65.9 per cent recorded in March 2020.
Encouragingly, employment for youth increased by 122,900 (or 6.9 per cent) over the month, accounting for around one-third of the rise in overall employment in November. The youth participation rate also rose considerably over the month, up by 3.7 percentage points, to 70.1 per cent in November 2021, the highest rate recorded since March 2009.
The ABS has noted that most people remained attached to their job during the Delta lockdowns, and to a greater extent than was the case earlier in the pandemic, which meant that as restrictions were eased many people were able to return quickly to work. This resulted in a rapid recovery in employment and participation between October and November.
Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, Stuart Robert, said today’s figures reflect the large rebound in labour market activity, as businesses have been able to reopen under the National Plan, particularly in the most populous states of New South Wales and Victoria.
‘Today’s figures demonstrate the National Plan is working—Australians are getting on with their lives safely, but there is more to be done,’ Minister Robert said.
‘We remain cognisant of the Omicron variant, but it is pleasing to note that online job advertisements are at a 13-year high, while the NSC’s latest Recruitment Experience and Outlook Survey results show employer expectations around increasing staff numbers have hit a new peak.
‘This shows Australia’s continued prosperity is depended on ensuring we continue to stick with the National Plan.’
In addition, the Morrison Government is building the workforce of the future with the right skills to meet the demands of the economy and community, as well as the agility to rise to the opportunities presented by emerging industries.
‘As part of MYEFO, the Morrison Government has announced a range of measures designed to help Australians connect to meaningful employment and inform and empower industry to play the important role of attracting and retaining employees,’ Minister Robert said.
‘We will spend $8 million to increase the number of Job Fairs in regional and metropolitan areas and connect more Australians with local jobs. We will expand the successful Launch into Work program to $74.7 million worth of projects to be funded each year to prepare job seekers for vacancies through work experience, training, and mentoring. We will also expand the 1800 CAREER service to Australians aged 25 and older who are self-managing their search for work using the Government’s online employment services.
‘We will work to fast-track entry into the workforce through the apprenticeship and traineeship sector by investing $10.5 million over the next three years to work intensively with the New South Wales and South Australian governments to pilot novel approaches to accelerate qualification completion time.’
‘We will also look to those who have migrated to Australia, and how we can support them to take up work in areas of demand which our domestic workforce is unable to fill. We will spend nearly $20 million through to 2023-24 to deliver faster, cheaper skills assessments which will acknowledge the valuable skills migrants have brought with them and their ability to contribute to the Australian workforce. Our targeted migration settings will continue to be considered holistically, informed by Australia’s broader domestic workforce objectives to ensure they complement each other.’
Minister Robert said the new measures announced as part of MYEFO would complement the Government’s existing programs, with all job seekers and those looking to reskill and upskill benefitting.
‘Our vision for skills reform and a funding model that provides national consistency for students, underpinned by improvements to the collection, timeliness and transparency of data across the Vocational Education Training (VET) system, will ensure we’re training Australians with the right skills to get the jobs in demand,’ Minister Robert said.
‘We will also ensure jobactive providers take a stronger, more proactive brokerage role in identifying local employment opportunities and referring job seekers to suitable work. Both job seekers and jobactive providers must be outcome-focused, with providers working closely with their region’s Employment Facilitator to develop strategies that better connect job seekers with local business needs, and support job seekers to upskill so they are ready to take up work when opportunities arise.
‘From 1 January 2022 through to June 2024, we will provide over $49 million to double the number of places in The Skills Checkpoint for Older Workers Program and increase the number of Skills and Training Incentives available, to assist older Australians to adopt a lifelong approach to learning, upskilling and reskilling, all while reducing their reliance on income support.
Minister Robert said the Morrison Government is committed to providing strong incentives and support for older job seekers to remain engaged in the labour market.
‘Aged pensioners who choose to re-enter the workforce or increase their work hours will benefit from an easier return to the Age Pension if they exceed the income limit due to their employment and will be able to keep their Pensioner Concession Card for two years,’ Minister Robert said.
The Morrison Government would also invest $10 million to develop an integrated data tool which would deliver a comprehensive, near real-time, regional view of Australia’s workforce, skill, and labour market.
Moreover, the Government is continuing to back Australia’s small business-led recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by extending the SME Recover Loan Scheme by a further six months to 30 June 2022. To date, around 80,000 loans worth approximately $7.3 billion have been provided to businesses since the scheme commenced in March 2020. The extension of the scheme will continue to provide unprecedented support for SMEs and help even more businesses get access to the funding they need to adapt, innovate and bounce back from the impacts of the pandemic.

The 2021-22 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) underscores the importance of sticking to the plan to secure Australia’s strong recovery from the greatest economic shock since the Great Depression.
Having performed more strongly than any major advanced economy throughout the pandemic, the Australian economy is poised for strong growth underpinned by Australia’s high vaccination rate and unprecedented economic support to households and small businesses.
Real GDP is expected to grow by 4½ per cent in 2021, and by 4¼ per cent in 2022 reflecting strong and broad-based momentum in the economy and demonstrating our economic plan is working.
Income tax cuts and a strong recovery in the labour market is seeing household consumption increase at its fastest pace in more than two decades.
Temporary tax incentives will drive the strongest increase in business investment since the mining boom with non-mining investment expected to reach record levels.
Consistent with the strong economic recovery the unemployment rate is forecast to reach 4¼ per cent in the June quarter of 2023.
This would represent the first time since before the Global Financial Crisis that Australia has sustained an unemployment rate of below 5 per cent and only the second time since the early 1970s.
The rapid recovery from the Delta imposed lockdowns is expected to see the addition of around 1 million jobs between October 2021 and the end of the forecast period, which is around 150,000 more jobs than forecast in the 2021-22 Budget.
As a result, the MYEFO shows an improvement in the fiscal outlook since the 2021-22 Budget, even after accounting for the impacts of the Delta imposed lockdowns.
The underlying cash balance in 2021-22 is expected to be a deficit of $99.2 billion (4.5 per cent of GDP), a $7.4 billion improvement since the 2021-22 Budget. And $2.3 billion stronger across the forwards.
This significant improvement in the underlying cash balance occurs at the same time that tax receipts as a share of GDP are forecast to fall from 22.9 per cent in 2020-21 to 22.1 per cent in 2024-25 due, in part, to the Government’s tax reform measures that continue to grow the economy and deliver a stronger budget.
The improvement in the forecast budget balance in 2021-22, together with the much stronger fiscal outcome in 2020-21, flows through to an improved outlook for debt.
Gross debt is projected to be lower in every year of the forward estimates and medium term than at the 2021-22 Budget.
Gross debt is now expected to be 41.8 per cent of GDP at 30 June 2022 and is projected to stabilise at around 50 per cent of GDP in the medium term.
Australia’s gross debt as a share of GDP is less than half the average across G20 advanced countries today, with Australia only one of nine countries in the world to have a AAA credit rating from the three leading rating agencies.
There is also a material improvement in the net debt position which now peaks at 37.4 per cent of GDP as opposed to 40.9 per cent in 2024-25, $65.7 billion lower than what was expected in May.
Australia’s world leading economic and health outcomes have been supported by a further $25 billion in direct economic and health support committed during the Delta outbreak, bringing our total pandemic support to $337 billion or 16.3 per cent of GDP.
This included more than $7.3 billion in business support payments, $12.6 billion in payments to individuals through the COVID-19 Disaster Payment and further investments in our vaccine rollout and hospitals.
The Government has also provided additional funding to sustain capacity in sectors significantly disrupted by COVID-19 such as aviation, tourism, early childhood education and care, and the arts.
Building on our COVID-19 response, funding in today’s MYEFO includes:

• $2.3 billion in funding commitments for new and existing infrastructure projects and more than $500 million to support rural and regional Australia.
• $896.0 million to support a strong labour market recovery, address workforce shortages and build workforce capability, equipping Australia’s workforce with the skills needed now and into the future.
• $2.7 billion in 2021-22 and $26.4 billion over the four years to 2024-25 to support the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
• $1.1 billion to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in areas such as health, education, early childhood, justice, languages and assisting families.
• $1.1 billion over 10 years to support reliable energy supply and a technology-driven approach to emissions reduction as part of our roadmap to net zero by 2050.

The global pandemic will continue to pose headwinds for domestic and global recovery for some time to come.
However, Australia’s high vaccination rate and increased investment in health system capacity will assist in mitigating the challenges presented by the ongoing global pandemic, including managing new variants.
Australia has a proven record of dealing with COVID-19 and the Government remains focused on securing the recovery, guaranteeing our essential services and setting Australia up for the future.
The 2021-22 MYEFO is available on the Budget website www.budget.gov.au

Close to 500 health students each year are undertaking placements and their university degrees in Orange, providing a boost to health care in the region and equipping the next generation of students with the right skills and confidence to work regionally.
Federal Member for Calare, Andrew Gee said today during a visit to Charles Sturt University, that the university had in 2020 facilitated around 470 nursing, midwifery and allied health placements in Orange, equating to more than 1,835 weeks of rural training.
Mr Gee and Federal Regional Health Minister, Dr David Gillespie visited the local campus, which is enabling students to obtain clinical experience in public and private health services.
“Having student doctors and other health professionals undertaking training in Orange has created jobs and given local patients increased access to health care,” Mr Gee said.
Mr Gee said the Australian Government funds the Orange training facilities through its Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training (RHMT) program. The program aims to improve the recruitment and retention of doctors and health professionals in rural and remote Australia.
“Charles Sturt University has received almost $13.5 million from the Federal Government for its RHMT activities over the past three years,” Mr Gee said.
“Additionally, this year a partnership between CSU and Western Sydney University has enabled a Joint Program in Medicine with 37 places for medical students to get underway here in Orange.
“This program is supported by our Government; we provided capital works funding of $22 million from 2019 to 2022 to establish the initiative.
“Our region fought for years to get this medical school established against entrenched opposition. We can all take pride in the fact that it will be training doctors in the bush for practice in the bush for generations to come.
“Country people deserve the same access to medical services as people in the cities, and the CSU Medical School will play a key role in making sure we have this equality for our country communities,” said Mr Gee.
Minister Gillespie, a former regional doctor, said The Nationals understand that when students undertake training in a regional or rural area, like Orange, it means they are more likely to choose to live and work outside the major cities, once they are fully qualified.
“That’s why expanding rural training is a key part of the Government’s comprehensive strategy to increase the number of doctors, nurses, dentists and other health professionals serving our rural people,” Dr Gillespie said.
Mr Gee and Dr Gillespie visited Charles Sturt’s School of Rural Medicine based at the campus in Orange, one of the University’s five major sites. The University’s Rural Medical School and Three Rivers Department of Rural Health supports nursing, midwifery, dentistry and allied health students to study and undertake placements within the region.
The University’s Rural Medical School is part of the Murray-Darling Medical Schools Network which the Government is developing to build on rural undergraduate training through the RHMT program, to support a continuum for doctors to learn, train and work in the regions through five rurally based medical school programs.
Charles Sturt Vice-Chancellor Professor Renée Leon said the University has long been one of regional Australia’s most reliable and comprehensive pipelines of highly skilled, ready-to-work healthcare graduates.
“The Joint Program in Medicine is unique in Australia in that all clinical and classroom training takes place in regional settings, she said.
“The Program has been designed to help address the persistent health workforce gaps in rural, regional and remote communities.”
“Our medicine students study alongside our offerings in nursing and allied health, who are also critical to the health outcomes of regional Australians,” she said.

In partnership with state and territory governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health leaders, the Morrison Government has released a national policy framework to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people over the next 10 years.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt and Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, said the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2021–2031 would make a significant contribution.
“The Health Plan is the first national health document to address and embed the health targets and Priority Reforms of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap,” Minister Hunt said.
“In particular, the Health Plan prioritises the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled health sector and the imperative for mainstream health services to provide culturally safe and responsive care.
“The Health Plan represents a fundamental shift in the way governments work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, communities and organisations.”
The Health Plan recognises that historic and systemic factors have resulted in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people having a burden of disease 2.3 times that of non-Indigenous Australians.
Minister Wyatt said the Health Plan will guide existing and future investment.
“This year we have already announced $254 million to improve infrastructure in community controlled health services, $45 million to improve healthy birthweight under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, and a further $781 million, predominantly for aged care and mental health – measures all strongly aligned with the priorities in the Health Plan,” Minister Wyatt said.
“Further opportunities, including through funding reprioritisation, will be identified as we begin the important task of implementing the Health Plan.”
CEO of Indigenous Allied Health Australia and Chair of the Health Plan Working Group, Donna Murray, said for sustainable change the leadership of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their voices was essential.
“It is important that we have worked in true partnership with government to develop this Health Plan, as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people know what is best for our own health and wellbeing – which we provided in My Life, My Lead consultation processes,” Ms Murray said.
“We have ensured that the Health Plan reinforces the importance of strengths-based and rights-based approaches that embed the cultural and social determinants of health in determining our own priorities and solutions.
“I welcome, too, that the Health Plan is informed by the fundamental role that connection to Country, family, kinship and community play in our health and wellbeing.”
The Health Plan will hold governments and the mainstream health system accountable for progress against its objectives, through an accountability framework and independent
mid-cycle and end-of-cycle progress reviews.
The Health Plan complements the National Preventive Health Strategy, launched this week, with significant focus on preventive health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
 

A new $34 million research centre will strengthen the future of aged care delivery in Australia.
The Aged Care Centre for Growth and Translational Research to open next year at Flinders University in Adelaide will help ensure vital research leads to tangible outcomes for the aged care sector.
The work will initially focus on four priority areas – dementia care, restorative care and rehabilitation, mental health and wellbeing, and social isolation.
Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Senator Richard Colbeck, said the centre was an important investment in improving the quality of aged care services.
“This is a big step forward when it comes to ensuring the needs of older Australians in care are not just met, but exceeded,” Minister Colbeck said.
“The Morrison Government is supporting the aged care sector to make improvements across workforce capability, care quality and effectiveness.
“To do that, it’s important for the Government to back innovation and accelerate the uptake of new technologies and research to benefit our ageing population.”
Ultimately, the centre will provide a platform for strengthened care for senior and vulnerable Australians and is part of the overall $17.7 billion the Morrison Government is providing in response to the Royal Commission into aged care quality and safety.
The first step in establishing the centre will be developing a new knowledge and implementation hub.
“This web-based hub will give the aged care sector access to information and products that set out practically how aged care can be delivered in the best possible way, based on comprehensive, evidence-based research,” Minister Colbeck said.
First round of applications at the centre open in February 2022. This will include support for aged care workers to trial new ways of delivering care.
“Workers in aged care will have the opportunity to share their learnings with other services through communities of practice and open forums on the knowledge hub,” Minister Colbeck said.
The focus of the research will be on how care and clinical activities are organised, delivered by different workers, and deployed in different care settings.
The centre will also support sector-wide improvements in care quality by increasing and expanding the capacity of the aged care workforce to access, understand and use research outcomes in their day-to-day work.
Flinders University Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Stirling said the national centre will enable collaboration between university researchers, industry partners and the aged care workforce to effectively address real and meaningful systemic changes for ageing Australians.
“The Aged Care Centre for Growth and Translational Research will bring together aged care staff and our researchers to carry out projects in collaboration with our industry partners, directly facilitating improvements in the sector,” Prof. Stirling said.
“We’ll apply the research through education and training programs to introduce innovations and improve caring practices – because we can’t afford to leave behind Australians who got us to where we are today.”
The research centre is part of the Government’s aged care workforce strategy to deliver vital services, improve quality, care and viability for senior Australians, under its $17.7 billion aged care reform package.
Minister Colbeck said the centre would evolve into an industry-led independent body.
“The Australian Government has provided funding over three years, and a key goal is for the centre to work towards self-sufficiency from 1 July 2024.”
The centre is expected to be operational by February 2022.