In this policy update, we highlight important reports and initiatives that were announced in late October and November of 2025 that influence the Arts, Personal Services, Retail, Tourism, Hospitality, and Vocational Education and Training (VET) sectors, as well as the broader economic landscape.

---

NSW – Stories Matter: A Writing and Literature Strategy for NSW 2025-2028  

On 17 October, the NSW Government released Stories Matter: A Writing and Literature Strategy for NSW 2025–2028, supported by $3.2 million in new funding. The Strategy aims to strengthen the state’s literary ecosystem by providing residencies and financial support for writers, positioning the State Library of NSW as the year-round home for the literary community and working with the Federal Government to elevate the status of Australian literature, including exploring potential tax incentives for writers.

From 2025, the State Library will launch the NSW Literature Hub, a partnership with the Sydney Writers’ Festival that will deliver a year-round program of literary events and create more than 300 paid opportunities for local writers each year.

The Strategy is built around five key pillars:

• Reinforce our foundations 
• Invest in authors 
• Promote reading 
• Strengthen the ecosystem 
• Address structural challenges.

Read the full Strategy here.

NSW Night Worker Action Plan 2025-2028 

On 29 October, the NSW Government released the NSW Night Worker Action Plan 2025–2028, introducing a newly prioritised focus on supporting night workers across the state.

The Plan highlights that approximately 1.27 million people, or 28.8% of the NSW workforce, regularly work between 6pm and 6am across essential industries including health care and social assistance (193,200 workers), accommodation and food services (158,300), transport and logistics, manufacturing, education, retail and emergency services.

Moving beyond research, the Plan outlines practical, targeted interventions to improve safety, amenity, wellbeing and recognition of night workers, while laying the foundation for long-term systemic change.

It sets out five key priority areas designed to strengthen and support NSW’s night workforce over the next three years.

Access the Action Plan here. 

NSW Small Business Commissioner – Small Business Momentum Survey – September 

On 3 November, the NSW Small Business Commissioner released their latest Small Business Momentum Survey for September, which summarises key insights, trends and data from a survey conducted with 600 small businesses across NSW.

According to the survey:

• Small business confidence stabilised for a second consecutive month between August and September, remaining unchanged at 27%.
• Confidence levels remain subdued amid challenging trading conditions.
• The last time business confidence was above 30% was in February 2024.
• Businesses continue to cite rising input costs, compliance burdens, uneven customer demand, cash flow challenges, staff shortages, climate- and weather-related impacts, and global uncertainty as factors weighing on confidence.

Access the full survey results here. 

NT Visitor Economy Strategy 2032

On 5 November, the Northern Territory Government released its Visitor Economy Strategy 2032, which promotes a whole-of-visitor-economy approach to deliver a long-term shared target.

The strategy extends beyond a focus on holiday visitors to consider the full range of visitors who interact with the NT, including those visiting family and friends, conference attendees, event audiences, international students, business travellers, and touring and cruise passengers.

Of interest to SaCSA and our stakeholders is that it calls out workforce development, including:

• Attracting, developing, and retaining the workforce to sustain year-round visitation.
• Driving innovative partnerships to support recruitment programs and upskilling in areas of skill shortages.
• Advocacy and support of visa settings to enable international visas for hospitality sector workers.
• Creation of employment and capability development in the events sector.
• Partnering with the Federal Government to expand Aboriginal ranger programs into tourism employment pathways.

Access the full strategy here. 

Queensland – The Right Skills Strategy 2025 – 2028 

On 13 November, the Queensland Government released The Right Skills Strategy 2025–2028, which outlines its plan to build a skilled workforce that supports new opportunities and drives the state’s economy.

The strategy announces more than $5 billion over four years and brings together government and industry, registered training providers, educators, and students to deliver on priority skills solutions.

It notes that by 2028–29, more than 2.3 million Queensland workers will hold a post-school qualification, representing three-quarters of the workforce. Of interest to SaCSA, the strategy highlights both retail trade and accommodation and food services as industries with growing skills needs between 2024–25 and 2028–29.

The strategy also focuses on expanding the accessibility, flexibility, and availability of training, including for regional communities across Queensland.

Access the full paper here. 

JSA – Vacancy Report – September 2025 

On 17 October, JSA released its Vacancy Report for September 2025, a monthly data series measuring online job advertisements.

This month’s results show a modest increase in online job advertisements, in contrast to the predominant trend of easing demand observed over much of the past three years.

The report shows that online job advertisement numbers remain at elevated levels, with around 20% more advertisements in the labour market currently than the monthly average for 2019.

Over the year to September 2025, online job advertisements decreased by 10%; however, they remain high by historical standards. This downward trend is reflected in other demand indicators, with the ABS Job Vacancies, Australia series showing a 1.5% decrease in vacancies over the year to August 2025.

Access the full report here. 

JSA – Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey: September Quarter 2025 

On 23 October, JSA released its latest Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey for the September quarter 2025, which monitors recruitment activity and conditions across Australia.

Key findings from the survey include:

• The recruitment rate in the September quarter 2025 was 50%, six percentage points higher than in the September quarter 2024 (44%).
• The recruitment difficulty rate in the September quarter 2025 was 42%, eight percentage points lower than the same period last year (50%).
• In the September quarter 2025, 23% of employers expected to increase staff, up three percentage points from the same time last year (20%).
• The proportion of employers expecting to decrease staff was 3% in the September quarter 2025.

Of interest to SaCSA:

In the September quarter 2025, Accommodation and Food Services recorded the highest recruitment rate (75%) and the lowest recruitment difficulty rate (22%) among the selected industries.

Notably, the Accommodation and Food Services industry also reported a strong expectation to increase staff over the next three months (42%), well above other industries.

Access the full survey results here. 

JSA – Speeding Up Progress Towards Gender Economic Equality  

On 29 October, JSA released its third and final paper for the Gender Economic Equality Study, entitled Speeding Up Progress Towards Gender Economic Equality.

Paper 3 brings together the findings of the previous two papers and offers 10 recommendations to accelerate progress towards gender economic equality.

The study highlights that gender economic inequality is not just about fairness, it is a structural barrier to productivity, workforce sustainability, and inclusive economic growth.

It also shows that compounding disadvantage among different groups, particularly First Nations women, CALD communities and people with disability requires targeted and nuanced policy responses.

The recommendations in Paper 3 call for coordinated national action across governments, industry, education and training providers, and communities.

Access the full paper and read the 10 recommendations here.

JSA – NST Update: Building a System That Puts People and Skills First – Discussion Paper

On 30 October, JSA released its discussion paper on the National Skills Taxonomy (NST) update, Building a System That Puts People and Skills First.

The discussion paper highlights that the disjointed nature of VET and higher education can hamper productivity and limit individuals’ ability to upskill, reskill and transition between occupations.

As the economy evolves, driven by digital transformation, growth in the care sector, and the net-zero transition, workers increasingly need flexible, lifelong learning pathways that span both VET and higher education. As a result, a harmonised approach requires a common skills language, enabling providers to recognise prior learning consistently and allowing workers to navigate flexible, skills-based pathways.

The paper poses six questions for discussion, with submissions due 5 December 2025.

View the paper here

JSA – Foundation Skills Study: Administrative Data Report

On 30 October, JSA released its Foundation Skills Study: Administrative Data Report, which draws on administrative data from a wide range of government and education sources, providing insights into the foundation skills proficiency of key priority cohorts of women, First Nations people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and people living with disability.

According to the report, foundation skills (literacy, numeracy and digital capability) enable workforce participation, lifelong learning and social inclusion. Ensuring equitable access and providing opportunities for everyone to build these skills is essential.

The report suggests it is important to improve data collection practices, particularly in relation to digital literacy and disability status, to ensure future reporting is more inclusive and robust.

Access the full report here.

JSA – Australian Labour Market for Migrants (October 2025)

On 31 October, JSA released the Australian Labour Market for Migrants, which is intended to inform recent migrants to Australia, people interested in working in Australia on a temporary or permanent basis, and organisations providing services to migrants and potential visa applicants.

According to the report, the Australian labour market continues to perform well, although there are signs of further softening in labour market conditions.

The report highlights that the trend unemployment rate in Australia was 4.3% in August 2025, up from 4.1% in August 2024.

The data consistently show that recently arrived migrants have a higher unemployment rate, on average, than those who have lived in Australia for some years.

At a more detailed occupational level, trend vacancies decreased in 39 of 48 occupation clusters over the year to August 2025. The largest decreases were for Hospitality Workers (down 46.1%), Food Preparation Assistants (down 31.6%), and Jewellers, Arts and Other Trades Workers (down 17%).

Access the full report here.

JSA – Higher Education Outcomes: Exploring Administrative Data

On 6 November, JSA released its report entitled Higher Education Outcomes: Exploring Administrative Data, which tracks labour market outcomes for people who have completed higher education qualifications, including transitions from study into work and longer-term career progression.

The study is designed to fill knowledge gaps and establish a program of work on student outcomes to support a high-quality, inclusive higher education system that meets Australia’s current and future needs.

The report uses the Personal Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA) to construct a profile of higher education graduates’ transitions and progression from study into work.

Industry and policymakers can apply the findings to workforce planning.

Access the full report here.

JSA – Vacancy Report: October 2025

On 12 November, JSA released its latest Internet Vacancy Index, which provides a monthly count of online job advertisements.

Key results for October include:

• This month’s results show a minor increase in online job advertisements, in contrast to the predominant trend of easing demand observed over much of the past three years.
• Online job advertisement numbers remain at elevated levels, with around 21% more advertisements in the labour market currently than the monthly average for 2019.
• Recruitment activity decreased across half of the states and territories during the month. The strongest increase was recorded in the Northern Territory (up 3.3%), while a significant decrease occurred in the ACT (down 11.2%).

Access the full report here.

JSA – Regional Labour Market Indicator Results: September 2025

On 14 November, JSA released its latest Regional Labour Market Indicator Results for September 2025, which combines key indicators of labour market capacity, from both an employee and an employer perspective, into a single measure of regional labour market performance.

Key findings from the report include:

• Regional and remote areas continue to be more likely to experience relatively weaker labour market conditions than their major city counterparts.
• Highlighting the strength of many metropolitan regions are the current strong conditions in Greater Adelaide, where overall performance remains strong despite persistent challenges in parts of the region.
• Analysis of JSA’s Generative AI Capacity Study, alongside RLMI data, shows that exposure to Generative AI is highest in stronger-performing labour markets within major cities.

Access the full report here.

NCVER – Government-funded Students and Courses: January to June 2025

On 20 October, NCVER released its report titled Government-funded Students and Courses: January to June 2025, which provides a summary of data relating to Australia’s government-funded vocational education and training (VET) system.

According to the report, there were 866,055 students undertaking government-funded training in Australia between January and June 2025. This represents a decrease of 63,320 students (6.8%) compared with the same period in 2024.

Additionally, the report shows that student numbers in all states and territories decreased, except South Australia, which recorded an increase of 2,125 students (3.8%), reaching a total of 57,645.

The report highlights that during the January to June period, several priority cohorts decreased from 2024 to 2025 including females, full-time students, regional and remote students and unemployed learners. All other priority cohorts increased.

Access the full report here.

NCVER – Government funding of VET 2024 

On 11 November, NCVER released its report Government Funding of VET 2024, which provides information on the flow of government funding for VET in Australia. The publication is based on 2024 data provided by the Australian, state, and territory government departments responsible for administering funds for Australia’s VET system.

Some key takeaways from the report include:

• Nationally, total government expenditure on VET increased by 55.8% between 2019 and 2024, reaching $10 billion.
• The largest increase was in employer assistance expenditure, mainly driven by temporary Australian Government subsidies introduced to support apprenticeship commencements and completions during COVID.
• Expenditure on apprentices increased by $2.9 billion (129%) between 2020 and 2022.
• VET delivery expenditure increased by 36.1% between 2019 and 2024, reflecting a period of COVID pandemic support, Fee-Free TAFE from 2023, and National Skills Agreement (NSA) policy initiatives that began in January 2024.

Access the full report here.