In this policy update, we highlight important reports and initiatives that were announced in late December 2025 and January of 2026 that influence the Arts, Personal Services, Retail, Tourism, Hospitality and Vocational Education and Training (VET) sectors, as well as the broader economic landscape.
Destination NSW Annual Report 2024–2025
On 28 November, Destination NSW released its Annual Report 2024–2025, revealing that New South Wales achieved its highest-ever total visitor expenditure of $55.9 billion. This milestone reaffirms NSW’s position as Australia’s leading destination for both domestic and international travellers.
The report defines the visitor economy as encompassing accommodation, dining, retail, major sport, arts, culture, leisure and business events and transport, reflecting the wide range of sectors contributing to tourism and economic growth.
Key highlights from 2024–2025 include:
- NSW ranked number one nationally for visitors, nights and expenditure.
- Sydney placed 10th on the 2024 Global Destination Sustainability Index.
- $247 million in business events secured for Sydney and regional NSW.
- 76 major events secured across the state.
- Launch of the $8 million Western Sydney Take-Off Fund.
- Vivid Sydney delivered visitor expenditure exceeding $1.3 billion.
Read the full report here
Creative State 2028
On 1 December, the Victorian Government released Creative State 2028, a new strategy highlighting that Victoria’s creative economy contributes $41.2 billion and is powered by a diverse range of industries including writing, music, art, festivals, theatre, design, fashion, game development, visual effects and film and television production.
According to the strategy, these industries now employ nearly 9% of Victoria’s workforce, representing more than 331,000 people.
The strategy is built around five key pillars:
- First Peoples First – Strengthening Victoria’s First Peoples creative industries to embed practice and culture, grow the creative economy, and connect Community and Country.
- Growing Our Creative Community – Making creative experiences more equitable and inclusive for all Victorians, while increasing diversity among creators.
- Supporting Young People – Expanding inclusive, accessible and rewarding opportunities for children and young people as both audiences and creators.
- Expanding Our Creative Economy – Partnering with creative industries to fuel innovation, strengthen the workforce, and drive sustainable growth.
- An Inspiring Creative Future – Building a strong, resilient and prosperous creative sector, and promoting the value of creativity across the state.
Read the full strategy here
Creative Australia – Sound Fair? An analysis of art music commissioning in Australia
On 4 December, Creative Australia released its report, Sound Fair? An analysis of art music commissioning in Australia, providing a national snapshot of current commissioning rates and practices across the art music sector.
The study draws on data from two online surveys. One targeting music creators who receive commissions, and another for organisations and individuals who commission new works.
Key findings include:
- 78% of music creators received three or fewer commissions per year.
- 55% of creators earned $5,000 or less annually from art music commissions.
- Private organisations were the largest group of commissioners (31%).
- 93% of commissioning organisations reported that commissioning supported their business goals.
- 86% of commissioners relied on a single funding source. While private individuals were the most common funding source (25%), private organisations provided the largest share of total funding (26%) despite commissioning only 17% of works.
Access the full report here
Productivity Commission – Building a Skilled and Adaptable Workforce – Inquiry Report
On 10 December, the Productivity Commission released its Inquiry Report: Building a Skilled and Adaptable Workforce, outlining recommendations across four key policy reform areas:
- Equitable access to quality teaching resources to improve school student outcomes.
- Enabling flexible tertiary education pathways.
- Boosting work-related training to strengthen skills and adaptability.
- Ensuring fit-for-purpose occupational entry regulations.
The report highlights that:
- People of all ages and backgrounds need smoother entry pathways into VET and universities and better transitions between the two sectors.
- Improved credit transfer arrangements could help workers build skills over time and avoid duplication.
- Better recognition of existing skills, including those gained outside formal education, would enable more Australians to fully use their capabilities.
Several recommendations directly relate to the role of JSCs and SaCSA looks forward to engaging further in this process to support implementation and outcomes for industry.
Access the full report here
Productivity Commission – National Competition Policy Analysis 2025
On 19 December, the Productivity Commission released its National Competition Policy Analysis 2025, examining the economic impacts of two key policy reforms:
- Occupational licensing reform to promote labour mobility, and
- Adoption of international and overseas standards to enhance consistency and competitiveness.
The analysis found that both reforms would promote competition and increase Australia’s GDP.
The report estimates that aligning Australia’s mandatory standards with international standards could add between $1.1 billion and $3 billion per year to the national economy, equivalent to 0.04% to 0.11% of GDP.
It also recommends that governments:
- Review and align mandatory standards with international counterparts and across jurisdictions.
- Update outdated references to voluntary standards.
- Fund free public access to standards incorporated in legislation, noting that paywalls create competitive disadvantages for small businesses and startups and increase the risk of non-compliance.
Access the full analysis here
Tourism Research Australia – Tourism Forecast for Australia 2025 to 2030
In December 2025, Tourism Research Australia (TRA) released its Tourism Forecast for Australia 2025 to 2030, outlining projected growth trends across both domestic and international travel markets.
Key highlights include:
- Total visitor spend is forecast to rise 6%, from $180.6 billion in 2024 to $191.6 billion in 2025, before growing at an average annual rate of 4% to reach $233 billion by 2030.
- Short-term international visitor spend is expected to increase 15%, from $32.9 billion in 2024 to $37.7 billion in 2025, and continue growing by 4% per year to reach $46 billion by 2030.
- Australian outbound travel is projected to increase 8% to 12.6 million trips in 2025, with Japan, China, Vietnam and Thailand forecast to record the strongest growth.
- Domestic overnight trips are forecast to rise 0.3% to 113.2 million in 2025 (following a 0.3% decline in 2024). As economic conditions improve, growth is expected to strengthen to 1.4% in 2026 and 1.6% in 2027.
- Domestic day trips increased 10% between 2024 and 2025, but growth is expected to moderate as overnight travel recovers, averaging 2.2% per year from 2025 to 2030.
Access the full report here
Victorian Skills Authority – Victorian Skills Plan for 2025 into 2026
On 12 January, the Victorian Skills Authority (VSA) released its annual Victorian Skills Plan, outlining the state’s skills roadmap and priority workforce needs for 2025–2026.
The Plan focuses on strengthening Victoria’s skills system to drive productivity and economic growth, with a particular emphasis on the impact of technological change, including artificial intelligence, on the workforce.
It provides a snapshot of how current government initiatives and funding programs are improving access to education and training. The Plan also identifies the fastest-growing occupational sectors across Victoria, distinguishing between regional and metropolitan workforce growth.
The 2025–26 Victorian Budget reaffirms the state’s commitment to skills development, allocating $459.3 million to TAFE and training. This includes $15.2 million for pre-accredited literacy, numeracy, digital and non-technical skills delivered through Learn Local providers.
The Plan positions VET and higher education as central to meeting both current and future workforce needs, particularly in priority and emerging sectors, and highlights the crucial role of VET in reskilling and upskilling Victoria’s workforce.
Read the full report here
NSW Small Business Commissioner – Small Business Momentum Survey – December 2025
On 21 January, the NSW Small Business Commissioner released its Small Business Momentum Survey – December 2025, showing that small business confidence rose by 3 percentage points to 28% between November and December 2025.
Despite this improvement, overall confidence remained subdued throughout 2025, reflecting challenging trading conditions. Businesses continued to report pressures from rising input costs, fluctuating customer demand, regulatory compliance, staffing challenges, climate impacts, and broader economic uncertainty.
The report found that 84% of businesses were concerned about the rising cost of inputs. Expectations for profitability declined for the third consecutive month, with only 12% of businesses expecting an increase over the next three months, one percentage point lower than in November.
Access the full report here
JSA – Vacancy Report – December 2025
On 21 January, JSA released their Vacancy Report for December 2025 which shows that online job advertisements rose slightly in December, continuing the recent pattern of minor monthly variations and indicating a potential slowing of the medium-term downward trend that was observed from June 2022 to early-2025.
The report also shows that advertisement numbers remain at elevated levels, with around 25% more ads in the labour market presently than compared with the monthly average for 2019.
It highlights that over the year to December 2025, online job advertisements decreased by 0.8%. Advertisement numbers, though, are at high levels historically.
This downward trend is present in other demand indicators, with the ABS’s Job Vacancies, Australia series showing a 5.2% decrease in vacancies over the year to November 2025.
To access the full report, please click here
JSA – Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey (REOS): December Quarter 2025
On 23 January, JSA released its Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey (REOS) for the December quarter 2025, which monitors recruitment activity and labour market conditions across Australia.
Key findings include:
- The recruitment rate was 46%, up 3 percentage points from the same period last year (43%).
- The recruitment difficulty rate was 41%, 9 percentage points lower than a year earlier (50%).
- 20% of employers expected to increase staff numbers, up 1 percentage point from last year (19%).
- 4% of employers expected to reduce staff in the December quarter 2025.
Of particular relevance to SaCSA:
- The Accommodation and Food Services industry recorded the highest recruitment rate (72%) of all sectors surveyed.
- The same industry also reported the highest staffing optimism, with 35% of employers expecting to increase staff.
Access the full report here.
NCVER – Apprentices and Trainees June Quarter 2025
On 18 December, the NCVER released its Apprentices and Trainees: June Quarter 2025 report, providing a national snapshot of apprenticeship and traineeship activity across Australia.
The report includes data on commencements, recommencements, completions, cancellations and withdrawals, as well as contracts currently in training as of 30 June 2025.
Commencements – June Quarter 2025 (Australia):
- 29,495 commencements (down 27.8% from June quarter 2024)
- 14,175 trades (down 29.2% from June quarter 2024)
- 15,320 non-trades (down 26.5% from June quarter 2024)
- 18,365 males (down 28.2% from June quarter 2024)
- 11,110 females (down 27.1% from June quarter 2024)
Cancellations and Withdrawals – June Quarter 2025 (Australia):
- 23,025 cancellations and withdrawals (down 6.2% from June quarter 2024)
- 14,055 trades (down 0.6% from June quarter 2024)
- 8,965 non-trades (down 13.9% from June quarter 2024)
- 15,470 males (down 3.3% from June quarter 2024)
- 7,540 females (down 11.6% from June quarter 2024)
Access the full report here
We encourage our stakeholders to delve deeper into these reports and strategies to understand their potential impact and leverage them in planning and decision-making. As always, we remain committed to supporting a vibrant and sustainable workforce across all industries.
Author: Shane Kocass, Policy Officer at SaCSA, analyses government policies, fosters meaningful engagement with government stakeholders, and assists in navigating the complex policy landscape to drive impactful outcomes.