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SA risks youth workforce exodus: economic report

Tuesday, 12 Apr 2016 12:24:58

There are too few jobs and training opportunities for young people, the report found. (ABC News)

South Australia risks an exodus of young people not seen since the State Bank collapsed in the early 1990s unless more jobs are created, new research has suggested.

Key points:

  • SA workforce growth is half the national rate
  • State population growth also is half that nationally
  • Non-working people 65 and older a fast-rising group

The state's workforce is growing at half the national rate and South Australia's ageing population is rising quickly, the South Australian Centre for Economic Studies at Adelaide University said.

Its executive director Michael O'Neil said more youth training opportunities were needed and a boost in skilled migration might help improve the state's outlook.

"We're trying to transform the economy from old manufacturing to advanced manufacturing and renewables. These are the industries of young people and young ideas and we're losing that population," he said.

"We need to make it much, much cheaper for young people to be attending TAFE [and] we really need to boost migration."

South Australia faced a significant economic downturn after its State Bank collapsed in 1991.

"This was a time in which a number of headquartered companies and major offices of other companies were shut down, and a wave of manufacturing enterprises also closed their doors," Professor O'Neil said.

"The age structure of the state's population and workforce is currently a very strong impediment to economic growth.

"Most notably, young people and young families left the state from 1993 to 2002, adding to other states' younger populations and depleting our own."

SA population growth half the national rate

In about three decades to 2014, South Australia's population grew by 350,000, almost 27 per cent, at a time when the national population grew by 55 per cent.

The research found the number of younger people who were potentially economically active and contributing to the state was now less than the rate of the early 1980s.

It said South Australia had just 58 per cent of its population employed, lower than the average across the nation.

The number of South Australians aged 65 or older who were not working had increased dramatically and reached 26 per cent in the 2013-14 financial year, it found.

"These figures represent a real challenge for our state, as they suggest our economy is not creating enough employment opportunities, which impacts on the level and growth rate of gross state product," Professor O'Neil said.

"Skilled migration is one important option for our state. While immigrants benefit from their employment in Australia, the Australian population as a whole benefits from their contribution to the economy."

Professor O'Neil said well-educated younger families could add to economic growth as they bolstered retail demand and needed housing and schools, among other things.

A response is being sought from the SA Government.

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