Australia’s ability to lift productivity from AI will depend less on the technology itself and more on building workforce capability.
With AI adoption accelerating across sectors, the Future Skills Organisation (FSO) was tasked by the federal government to lead the development of a National AI Skills Report to feed into the National AI Plan.
The consultation was announced by Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy Andrew Charlton, signalling the government’s intention to take a coordinated approach to workforce capability alongside emerging AI policy.
FSO is the Jobs and Skills Council for Australia’s finance, technology and business sectors, shaping workforce skills with a strong focus on digital, AI, cyber and human skills.
To develop the National AI Skills Report, FSO engaged with industry, unions, training providers, governments, community stakeholders, jobs and skills councils and the government’s National AI Centre (NAIC) and Jobs and Skills Australia.
The goal was to build a clearer national picture of Australia’s AI capability, where gaps persist and what the skills system needs to do next.
The report has now been submitted to the Australian Government.
For FSO chief executive Patrick Kidd, the process reinforced both the opportunities and challenges ahead, confirmed the universal scale of the task, and highlighted a strong, shared appetite for action.
“The risk for Australia isn’t that AI is advancing too quickly – it’s that AI capability is spreading too slowly. If skills remain concentrated in only a few pockets, the productivity gains will concentrate too,” he said.
Mr Kidd said AI skills are now foundational for almost all workers – not just technical specialists – but Australia’s current approach lacks system‑wide coordination.
“There is no shared language or standard for AI capability. Pathways into training and work are unclear, and learners and employers lack confidence in what training actually delivers.”
He pointed to comparable economies including the UK, Singapore and members of the European Union, which are responding with coordinated national strategies that combine skills frameworks, targeted programs and sustained multi-year investment to build AI capability at scale.
“Australia needs a national framework which can be applied across multiple learning pathways which is relevant to education, training and for use across industry,” Mr Kidd said.
“A shared reference for defining AI capability, how it builds over time, and how existing learning maps against it – so the system can act at speed and with consistency.”
For that to work, Mr Kidd said industry must be at the centre, helping to describe what AI capability means in practice across different roles and sectors.
In August this year, FSO and the NAIC will co-convene a National AI Skills Forum bringing together senior leaders from industry, training, unions and government to explore the key recommendations in the National AI Skills Report.
The challenge is clear. What’s needed now is a deliberate, coordinated approach to building the AI skills the economy needs to thrive.
This article was produced by InnovationAus.com in partnership with Future Skills Organisation.
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