23 July 2007

Australia needs to undertake a fundamental policy rethink on how to improve its flagging performance in services exports, according to a new discussion paper released today by the Business Council of Australia.

The paper, Underserviced: Why Australia’s Services Economy Deserves More Attention, says current policy thinking and settings reflect an outdated view of Australia’s economy and without a more proactive policy approach, the country risks missing out on the rapidly growing global demand for services.

While the discussion paper highlights how Australia’s domestic economy and jobs growth has become more focused on services such as communications, business, property, health, and financial services over the past 20 years, this was not translating into growth in services exports.

Access the news release and the Underserviced paper via the links below.

New Policy Directions Needed for Australia's Underserviced Services Economy (news release)

Underserviced: Why Australia’s Services Economy Deserves More Attention