So what are the biggest risks facing Australia?
It is climate change, potential trading partner weakness or underinvestment in our major infrastructure?
The ADC Forum, in collaboration with KPMG, are proud to release our second report looking at these really important issues to Australia, titled the Australia Report: Risks and Opportunities 2011. We look at those issues likely to impact us now and over the next 10 years.
In developing this report we gathered diverse views from people in academia, business and government. These risks and people's perceptions of the risks were categorised into five major topics areas: Political, Economic, Environmental, Social and Technological risks.
Our report looks at each one these risks in detail and assessed the consequence if that risk was to occur in terms of economic impact as well as likelihood.
Importantly we’ve looked at the interconnection of these risks and how they work together potentially but also what is the upside, or the opportunity, for the Australian economy with these risks in mind.
In terms of the major risks facing Australia the key things our report talks about are issues such as climate change. This is a major risk facing Australia in terms of consequence and likelihood.
Major trading partner weakness is a significant risk as well, especially given our reliance on economies such as China and Japan and some of the issues facing Europe. The consequence and likelihood of this risk is significant as well.
Asset price collapse is the most significant economic risk facing Australia, things like the collapse of the housing market or major volatility on the stock exchange could drive significant issue for our economy. The good news is that it is slightly less likely than some other risks.
Australia is obviously is part of the global economy and fiscal crisis is a real issue in parts of Europe with many countries still struggling to repay their debt. This still presents a material risk for the Australia economy.
The final significant risk that our report discusses are demographic challenges.
Australia has an ageing population and that means that over time our tax base faces the risk of decline whilst at the same time things like health costs are likely to increase. This risk is a significant one and one that Australia has to face if we are to be successful in the future.
Some of the real value for readers of this report is focusing on the opportunities that Australia has. The opportunity to really focus on investing in renewables, the opportunity to use technology more effectively, and to really become a smart economy and be much more involved in leading edge research and development.
They are just a couple of the responses that our report identifies in terms of dealing with some of the risks that are presented.
We really hope this report is of value to leaders throughout the community, business, academics as well as government. We hope the report continues to push forward the public debate as to how Australia can maximise the opportunities that we face, whilst at the same time mitigating those risks that face our economy.