2016 Federal Election Manifesto

This manifesto identifies five issues that ACS believe are pivotal if Australia is to capture the benefits of digital disruption and ensure current and future generations are not left behind.

A pivotal moment for Australia’s digital future

The 2016 Federal election comes at a time when the speed, breadth and depth of changes in our society are unprecedented. A combination of rapid advances in technology, exponential growth in computing power, and global connectivity is driving changes. We now live in the information age. An age that opens up exciting new opportunities and potentially more significant wealth and higher living standards. It is an age where radical new business models are emerging, no market is out of reach, there is a low cost of entry for new players, innovative new products and services can spring from anywhere on the planet, and the old rules for achieving growth and profitability no longer apply. 

However, this journey into the information age brings significant disruption at a human level. Many millions of jobs will disappear and be replaced by new ones. Many new jobs are undefined, but they will require different skills, a changed skills mix, a culture of resilience, and ongoing learning. This has significant implications for the current workforce, for our students who will be the workforce of tomorrow, and for governments as they seek to grow economies and, at the same time, maintain a harmonious and socially-inclusive society.

Against this backdrop and in this context, the ACS sees this current Federal election as a potential tipping point in our national aspirations for future generations. It is an election in which our political parties must acknowledge the depth and implications of digital disruption, construct a policy program, and adopt a philosophical approach to government that will best equip Australia to grasp the opportunities of the information age fully. This means leaving behind much of the previously conventional approaches to policy and adopting fresh, innovative and bold new ways of addressing the challenges before us. 

ACS asks our political parties to focus on five issues that we believe are pivotal if Australia is to capture the benefits of digital disruption and ensure that current and future generations are not left behind. In each of these policy areas, the ACS makes several recommendations.