Melbourne Institute

A new government has taken over an economy that is under-performing. Employment is growing more slowly than the working-age population; both commonwealth and state budgets are in deficit and the great boom in resource investment is starting to wind down. Globally, both growth and world trade have been disappointing, frustrating the efforts of the industrialised world to close massive budget deficits. There are no simple solutions to either the global or the local problems, but creative thinking about the issues it confronts can give the new government an edge.

The consistent thread running through all our previous conferences has been that continued policy reform can enrich Australia’s overall well-being while providing opportunities for all. The format has established itself as the nation’s premiere economic and social public policy conference, providing a unique forum bringing together leading politicians, bureaucrats, academics and non-government organisation representatives.

Issues explored by the two-day conference will include budget sustainability, education, infrastructure, trade with Asia, aged care, federalism, the labour market and employment, climate change and energy, social disadvantage and exclusion and the end of the aged of entitlement.

Invited presentations from:

• Cabinet Ministers and Shadow Cabinet Ministers
• National and international experts
• Business leaders and representatives from community groups and trade unions
• Major figures from the Productivity Commission and other important organisations in Australia
• Leading researchers from the Melbourne Institute and the University of Melbourne
• Top journalists from The Australian

Dinner Venue

Olympic Room
Melbourne Cricket Ground
Gate 2, Yarra Park
Jolimont

Past Conferences

This is the ninth such Outlook Conference held jointly by the Melbourne Institute and The Australian at 18-month intervals since the inaugural Towards Opportunity and Prosperity conference in April 2002. This was followed by Pursuing Opportunity and Prosperity in 2003, Sustaining Prosperity in 2005, Making the Boom Pay in 2006, New Agenda for Prosperity in 2008, Road to Recovery in 2009, Growth Challenge in 2011 and Securing the Future in 2012.