Arjuna Samarakoon, Professor Barney Glover AO and Megan Lilly: Lessons from Australia’s Skills Based Growth Model

Australia’s economic resilience has depended not only on capital and institutions, but on a clearer understanding of skills. Over time, the country has built a stronger link between education, workforce planning, and industry need. That is what makes its model worth studying. The more useful lesson for Sri Lanka is not simply that Australia talks about skills, but that it increasingly treats them as a national growth issue rather than a narrow education issue. This piece draws on the public thinking of Arjuna Samarakoon, Professor Barney Glover AO, and Megan Lilly. Glover is the Commissioner of Jobs and Skills Australia, and Lilly is a Deputy Commissioner at the same body.

Arjuna Samarakoon

From Samarakoon’s perspective, one of Australia’s strengths is that it tends to frame human capital in practical terms. Skills are not treated as an abstract policy talking point. They are tied to productivity, employability, and long term competitiveness. That matters because countries do not grow simply by producing graduates. They grow by developing people whose capabilities match the needs of a changing economy.

For Sri Lanka, that is an important distinction. The challenge is not only to expand education, but to think more seriously about alignment. Which sectors need talent. Which skills will matter in five or ten years. Which institutions are actually preparing people for those realities. Australia’s model is far from perfect, but it shows the value of taking workforce planning seriously and linking learning to national direction. Similar themes appear in Arjuna Samarakoon’s article on what Sri Lanka can learn from Australia and the Philippines.

Professor Barney Glover AO

Glover’s public remarks point to a broader structural lesson. Australia’s skills system works best when there is better alignment between tertiary education, workforce demand, and future labour market needs. Jobs and Skills Australia was set up to provide evidence based advice on precisely those connections, including the jobs of today, the skills of tomorrow, and the architecture needed to bring the system closer together.

That makes the Australian example valuable. A skills based growth model is not just about training more people. It is about reducing the distance between what institutions produce and what the economy requires. Countries often speak about opportunity while allowing major gaps to persist between education pathways and real workforce demand. Australia’s experience suggests that growth becomes more durable when the system is more deliberate, more data informed, and more responsive to what industries and communities will actually need.

Megan Lilly

Lilly’s recent public commentary adds another dimension to that argument. She has written about the importance of moving beyond simplistic language around so called soft skills and has also outlined the need for a more skills first approach, including a common language for recognising skills more fairly and planning workforces more effectively. That points to a deeper shift in thinking. A modern economy cannot rely only on formal credentials. It also has to recognise the wider mix of capabilities that shape productivity and mobility.

That is especially relevant for countries trying to modernise quickly. A skills based model works best when it is flexible enough to value both technical capacity and broader workplace capability. It also works best when people can move across sectors, update their knowledge, and be recognised for what they can actually do. Australia’s debate in this area is still evolving, but it offers a serious lesson: economies grow better when they organise around capabilities, not just qualifications.

Conclusion

Australia’s skills based growth model is worth examining because it treats workforce capability as a strategic issue. That is the real lesson. Growth is stronger when education, skills, and economic planning are connected rather than fragmented. For Sri Lanka, the opportunity is not to copy Australia line for line, but to adopt the same seriousness about alignment. The countries that think hardest about future skills are often the ones best placed to shape future growth.