Australia unprepared for automation of its workforce – The Australian Financial Review

Australia is spectacularly unprepared for automation and this time it is more dramatic than the industrial revolution.

Let's be blunt: government and corporate Australia is spectacularly unprepared for automation.

You may think that's an especially provocative statement or blazingly unfair.

But try naming a government program or corporate plan to tackle the predicted massive impact of technological change on employment?

It's not like there haven't been clear signals of what's coming.

Oxford University, the OECD and MIT have long warned of the effects of job automation. Media, industry, unions and the tech sector have said we need to act on this.

Governments commission and consume studies and tacitly accept the extent of change coming. For example, the CSIRO has come up with a national-level to-do list via its report "Tomorrow's Digitally Enabled Workforce". Released early in 2016, the CSIRO's recommendations gather dust.

Australia's business community is actively examining roles ripe for automation, but many corporates are holding back on unleashing these changes, conscious of the job impacts flowing from such decisions.

Joined up government and industry preparedness is wholly absent and there is only so long this can go on for.

Businesses must reduce costs where possible, to compete and to pass savings to demanding customers and shareholders. Embracing this change early can lead to new jobs, as new companies and industries arise. Sadly, an absence of data and insight forces a short-term focus.

Companies that defer tough decisions make hasty, ill-considered "catch-up plays" that hurt employees and likely trigger community backlash. The cumulative effect of industries and government doing this too late, too fast, and with too little data and no overarching plan will be fewer people in work, and economic and social pain for all.

But we shouldn't feel compelled to assume the worst.

Technological change isn't new. It's been a constant since the start of the Industrial Revolution. Yes, this time, things are different.

The speed of tech-driven change, globalised markets, the automation of white as well as blue-collar roles and the geographic density of work, where whole communities rely on the salaries of jobs that will be automated, make today's changes sharper and, left unaddressed, more threatening.

Automation can both remove repetitive tasks from the workplace and create new opportunities. That's why government must plan ahead and focus on education that provides training so people can make the most of those opportunities as the world of work changes.

Few people left education for the challenge of filling out forms, and tomorrow's work will demand the skills computers don't have, like creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, curiosity, communication and care.

Leaders that show they have a plan to build tomorrow's companies, for tomorrow's jobs, with tomorrow's technologies can play a huge role in calming fears about the future. However, it's crucial to build this plan in a holistic and thoughtful way, with more than fly-by-night platitudes.

The worst thing that could happen is to have faith in a "just-in-time" response to automation hoping that just shoving affected workers through a plethora of "re-training" courses will fit the bill.

The key to managing the change will rest in leadership and insight, two ingredients noticeably absent in the national landscape.

We need leadership that is equipped to see commitments through to their conclusion, and do so collaboratively, across government, industry, major agencies and peak bodies.

And leadership needs to be informed with insight. In Australia, there are those that have tried to scope out different scenarios for the future of work.

The role of government is crucial from encouraging a greater take-up of lifelong learning, supporting the emergence of new industries through to thinking about and acting upon the likely impact of automation on areas such as taxation and superannuation.

Most of all, both companies and governments need insight to build durable strategies and policies that see Australian industries and communities through this transition. This is no time for two or three-year pet projects that expire when new CEOs or new governments arrive.

Ultimately, we need the future of work in Australia to become a much more prominent part of public discussion. We must not blandly "mitigate" the effect of change, but ensure that Australians feel like they have enriching, more secure jobs in a globally relevant economy as a result of it.

Ed Husic is Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy and Future of Work and Mike Priddis is CEO and founder of Faethm, an R&D firm focused on the Applications and Implications of emerging technologies

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Australia unprepared for automation of its workforce - The Australian Financial Review