The Jobs Summit was a start, but we need to start increasing the number of women in the workforce immediately

The Jobs and Skills Summit was a welcome start in resolving Australia’s unemployment and labour shortage concerns, but policymakers are still not going far enough in exploring the deeper causes behind the crisis. As remarkable as the 3.4% unemployment rate is, more can be done to tackle stubborn long-term unemployment.

Increasing the participation rate of the underemployed and bringing more women back into the workforce are two other areas that need further consideration. Instead of relying on sweeping generalisations about the unemployed, policymakers must commit to a targeted, evidence-based approach to investigate the contributing causes of unemployment. This includes examining why people aren’t enrolling into training courses or education, why apprenticeship uptakes are so low, and why they are unemployed in the first place.

It would also be helpful to take into account case studies and lessons from what has worked before.