Source: ABS  Looking ahead With that assessment of the past, let me turn then, very tentatively, to the future. I have already noted that Australia's trend growth rate has probably slowed a little. The demographic effects that are working to slow it are likely to continue over the coming decades.
All of this points to the need not only to calibrate our assumptions about future growth prudently, but also to maximise our efforts in those areas that can lift potential growth. This is not just an academic debate about “reform” among “elite” opinion. It's not just about what a response might be to some theoretical future slowing of growth in living standards.