“Australia must keep laying the groundwork for future business growth if recent employment gains are to be sustained,” Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott said following the release of labour force data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

“These statistics come amid revelations that Australia’s large businesses were the only segment of the economy to boost its overall number of employees last financial year.

“Large businesses created 80,000 jobs in net terms in 2015-16, while small and medium businesses lost 14,000 jobs, according to the ABS.

“One of the best protections we can offer Australian workers is to maintain strong, successful businesses that can employ more people and pay higher wages.

“This means addressing Australia’s globally uncompetitive company tax rate, and resisting calls to lumber businesses with ineffective regulation – both of these are a dead weight on job creation.

“Essential social services depend on having strong businesses that can pay tax over the long term. Australia’s reliance on corporate tax is the second-highest among advanced countries, with companies expected to pay $70 billion this year.”

Large businesses have employed 540,000 more people over the seven years to June 2016, accounting for 62 per cent of total net private sector jobs created.

There have been around 150,000 jobs created in Australia so far this year. By comparison, there were only around 105,000 jobs created over the whole of 2016.