Economic Reform Roundtable: The start of a conversation
Australia’s Economic Reform Roundtable won’t be remembered for its immediate policy wins, but it may have revived the national debate about economic growth.
Last week, experts from Australian business, unions, academia, think tanks and government descended on Canberra for the long-awaited Economic Reform Roundtable. Announced by the Prime Minister in June, the event aimed to build consensus on ways to improve productivity, enhance economic resilience and strengthen budget sustainability. The Roundtable was intended to inject some much-needed urgency into the debate about the government’s productivity and growth agenda.
Australia’s long-standing productivity problem is well documented. After substantial gains through the latter decades of the 20th century, productivity growth has slowed considerably, leaving wages, living standards and government finances under pressure.
Against this backdrop, a series of speeches and reports ahead of the Roundtable set high expectations. In a widely covered address, Treasurer Jim Chalmers stated that the event would look to build a “consensus on national reform priorities”, signalling that big changes could be on the table if appetite was there. Meanwhile, the Productivity Commission released a series of detailed reports pointing to opportunities in areas from competition policy to workplace regulation. Taken together, these interventions raised hopes that the Roundtable could provide the political momentum to translate talk into action.
So, what of the outcomes from last week?
In his closing remarks following the Roundtable, Chalmers highlighted several tangible policy steps that will proceed with urgency, including changes to road vehicle charges and moves to cut government red tape. There has been further action this week, with the announcement that the government will abolish a further 500 nuisance tariffs. While welcome, these initiatives are modest in scope– helpful at the margin but unlikely to meaningfully shift the dial on productivity growth.
On bigger picture measures, there was recognition of a range of priority areas that Australia needs to tackle. These include the need for tax reform, better and more efficient regulation, and policies to encourage greater investment. The Treasurer noted these, among other ideas, in his ten areas of consensus that will help set the reform direction for the government over coming months and years. Yet detail on what those specific reforms might look like and the timelines for change remain scarce.
What should we make of the Roundtable?
On the face of it, the tangible outcomes are underwhelming, particularly for those already engaged in the productivity debate. Those looking for major breakthroughs on tax reform, labour market policy, or competition regulation will have come away disappointed. Yet to judge the event purely on its immediate policy yield may miss its wider significance.
The real success may be the role that the Roundtable has played in kickstarting a national conversation on productivity and growth. Google trends data suggests that the proverbial pet shop galah in Australia is once again talking about economic reform. Searches for the term “productivity” increased to levels not seen in over 15 years during the Roundtable last week. In that sense, the event may have achieved what many reports and speeches could not: catalysing a debate about economic reform at watercoolers, barbeques and running clubs around the country.
As a result, despite all the frustrations with incrementalism, there is reason for optimism. With a large parliamentary majority and an engaged electorate, the conditions for major reform are more favourable than they have been for many years. The Roundtable may not have delivered the answers, but it has perhaps laid the groundwork for the right questions to be asked – and for a national consensus for change.
Ultimately though, as Productivity Commission Chair Danielle Wood noted in her speech ahead of the Roundtable last week, the government, and the success of the Roundtable, will be judged on the actions and the outcomes achieved.
This newsletter was distributed on 29th August 2025. For any questions/comments on this week's newsletter, please contact our authors:
This blog was co-authored by Andy Crossley, Manager at Deloitte Access Economics.
Click on the links below to read our previous Weekly Economic Briefings:
- Towards a Green-Skilled Workforce (18 Aug)
- Productivity growth revised down, as labour market cools (14 Aug)
- Today, meet tomorrow – Australia’s Digital Pulse (07 Aug)
- Although price growth is contained, cost of living pressures remain (31 July)
