{"id":587643,"date":"2026-08-09T05:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T05:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/587643\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T05:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T05:04:11","slug":"ai-could-add-up-to-116-billion-to-australias-economy-and-create-44000-jobs-ey-report-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/587643\/","title":{"rendered":"AI could add up to $116 billion to Australia\u2019s economy and create 44,000 jobs, EY report says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amid growing fears of AI-driven job losses and changing workplaces<\/a>, a $116 billion question has been raised.<\/p>\n

Could artificial intelligence<\/a> actually be the cure for Australia\u2019s decade-long productivity slump<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\"Interest<\/p>\n

Could artificial intelligence actually be the cure for Australia\u2019s decade-long productivity slump?\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

Research released by EY-Parthenon<\/a> estimates AI could pump between $95 billion and $116 billion into Australia\u2019s economy over the next decade \u2013 equivalent to a 2.6 to 3.2 per cent increase in GDP.<\/p>\n

It also forecasts a net gain of 36,000 to 44,000 full-time jobs by 2036.<\/p>\n

But the report argues the biggest takeaway is a long-awaited lift in productivity.<\/p>\n

Productivity measures how efficiently an economy turns inputs like labour and capital into goods and services.<\/p>\n

When businesses<\/a> generate more value without significantly increasing resources, productivity rises, underpinning higher real wages without fuelling inflation.<\/p>\n

Australia<\/a> \u2013 and much of the Western world \u2013 has struggled on that front in recent years. <\/p>\n

Productivity growth has averaged just 0.3 per cent a year over the past decade, less than a quarter of the pace recorded during the previous 10 years.<\/p>\n

EY suggests AI could reverse that trend by taking over routine cognitive tasks, helping workers complete jobs faster, improving decision-making, and encouraging businesses to invest in new equipment and software.<\/p>\n

Its modelling estimates AI could lift national productivity by between 2.0 and 2.4 per cent by 2036, while boosting business investment by up to 3.9 per cent.<\/p>\n

However, economists caution that national productivity gains are rarely instant or evenly spread.<\/p>\n

In the past, major tech changes have suffered from an initial adjustment lag as businesses absorb high upfront costs for hardware, energy, and staff retraining.<\/p>\n

And with much of Australia\u2019s workforce concentrated in health<\/a>, aged care<\/a>, and education, unlocking nationwide productivity gains will be far harder than simply automating desk jobs.<\/p>\n

UNSW economics professor Petr Sedlacek welcomed the report, but warned that long-term AI projections require nuance.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong-term projections about a fast-moving technology like AI should always be interpreted cautiously because the results depend heavily on the assumptions built into the modelling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sedlacek noted that EY\u2019s projected productivity gain equates to at most a quarter of a percentage point in additional growth per year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile any boost in productivity growth is welcome these days, one-quarter of a per cent is still far away from highs of around two per cent growth Australia enjoyed in the past,\u201d he told nine.com.au.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

UNSW economics professor Petr Sedlacek warned against taking long-term AI forecasts as fact.\u00a0Supplied<\/p>\n

Rather than worrying about AI replacing entire occupations<\/a>, Sedlacek said it was more useful to consider how technology automates specific tasks within jobs \u2013 which is hitting the younger workforce particularly hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cFresh graduates and young workers in AI-exposed occupations are facing a noticeably weaker labour market, consistent with the idea that AI is particularly good at performing more junior tasks<\/a>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, the bigger risk may not be mass unemployment<\/a>, but a hollowing out of the career ladder.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf AI increasingly replaces junior workers, how are we going to fill mid- to senior-roles down the track when the current experienced workers leave the labour market?\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, he said the technology\u2019s greatest potential may lie somewhere else entirely.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe economic upside of AI may not come from making today\u2019s businesses a little \u2013 or a lot \u2013 more efficient, but from enabling entirely new businesses that simply do not exist today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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