The Australian Industry Report was released by the Federal Department of Industry, Innovation and Science’s Office of the Chief Economist on 9 December 2015. The report provides an overview and analysis on major economic factors affecting Australia’s industries.
The report is broken into four chapters, which consider the following:
- A snapshot of major economic developments affecting the Australian economy over the past year
- A key theme such as structural change (2014 edition) or government regulation (2015 edition) that cuts across Australian industries
- Research and analysis on an industry specific issue such as the five key growth sectors (2014 edition) or enabling services (2015 edition)
- Research based on the department’s programme data.
The Office of the Chief Economist expressed concern that the Australian economy is in transition and “future growth will need to draw from a broader base”.
“It is therefore critical that we get our policy settings right,” the OCE added.
The report sees Australia in the position of enabling services and their role in providing vital intermediary business services. Appropriate regulation was also an essential ingredient to facilitate and support sustainable economic growth and the importance of research and development activity “in securing long-run economic growth.”
The report is accessible through the website of the Office of the Chief Economist.
Food industry growth
The report noted a 2.2 per cent growth in employment in Food & Agriculture during 2014-15 as well as better increases in productivity compared with the all-industry average.
Strong growth was also noted in Accommodation and Food Services, which expanded by 7 per cent in 2014-15 and a profitability increase of 20 per cent on the previous year.
Mixed forecasts were reported by the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources for agricultural products in 2015-16. Rising incomes in China were attributed to an expectation for strong, long-term growth for high-value food, with anticipation of Chinese demand for dairy products to more than double by 2050 and Chinese demand for sugar and beef also anticipated to double by 2050.
