Economic experts say Workchoices bad for productivity

BIS Shrapnel have released their latest Economic Outlook noting that labour and skill shortages will severely constrain Australia's economic growth in coming years. The June 06 report (the media release is public, the report is for subscribers only) argues there is an urgent need for policies that improve labour productivity and increase the pool of skilled labour, however it states:

"the Federal Government’s latest WorkChoices legislation will do little to improve either and is deflecting the debate away from how to grow the pie bigger, to how best to cut it up."

Interestingly, since the election of the Howard government in 1996, real public and private funding for vocational education and training has declined 18% per student (compared with a 25% increase for private secondary students) according to research (presentation only) by the Monash University Centre for the Economics of Education and Training.