With a large proportion of young people not having any defined role in society (neither looking for jobs, nor acquiring the skills to find one), there is a high risk of social cohesion and of trust in public institutions being undermined, with harm for medium-term growth prospects.5 Youth unemployment is also costly in terms of long-term productivity.
Nonetheless, some sectors of the economy are adversely affected. A notable example at present is the tourism industry, where there has been a sharp increase in the number of Australians travelling abroad rather than taking holidays domestically. This is having a severe effect on traditional holiday destinations in Queensland, areas which are also suffering from overbuilding in the pre-crisis years.