After an extensive consultation process it emerged that the most effective collaboration between business and the community would be providing support to primary and secondary schools and teachers.

Focussing on those schools and students that will benefit most from these initiatives makes it possible for the ABCN to help in the development of our future workforce and, potentially, build more sustainable communities.

Key reasons

• Substantial economic costs are associated with young Australians leaving school early, as well as costs to the individual and the community
• Crisis in basic literacy skills of young people: almost one-third of 15-year olds need to substantially improve their literacy skills
• Young people who lack basic literacy and numeracy skills face greater challenges in the modern workplace
• Future skills shortages are likely to affect Australian competitiveness.

Role of business

Businesses can use their resources to work directly with schools to:

• Help improve training and literacy levels
• Support innovation and enterprise
• Provide mentors for students
• Increase awareness of business within the schools
• Broaden opportunities for students.

'It's been good to see a broader perspective and made me feel more strongly that this country could get so much out of more investment in education.' Business member

The long-term effects are

• give students the chance to become productive and successful members of the community
• help to build stronger and more sustainable communities
• broaden awareness
• give businesses the knowledge and experience to do business in a way that positively affects the broader community. 
  

Economic costs of early school leavers

• Lower levels of productivity
• Increased unemployment = higher welfare payments
• Lower participation rates as low-skilled workers opt out of the labour force
• Lower tax revenue for Australia.

Why employability

The success of businesses relies on people with the relevant skills to participate in the workforce. Skills shortages in Australia are becoming a real concern and are likely to affect our competitiveness in the future.

There are also rising pressures on economic resources, including the availability of skilled labour, which means that it is crucial to harness the potential skills, ingenuity and know how of young Australians.  According to the Business Council of Australia a more concerted and coordinated effort to tackle this problem is urgently required.

Our untapped resource

School leavers represent a significant untapped resource. By halving the number of early leavers between 2004 and 2010 could lead to net present-value benefits of around $8.2 billion.

Engaging businesses to work closely with schools and students that are most in need can play a significant role in addressing the individual and community needs around education and employability.

‘The mentors are making such a significant impact on the students both academically and socially.’ Teacher