Australia's Accounting Shortfall: A Threat to Productivity and Economic Resilience

With Australia's productivity debate in full swing, one critical workforce is being overlooked: accountants. Despite the central importance of productivity to economic growth and living standards, a shortage of accounting professionals threatens to hinder this ambition.

New research commissioned by Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand projects that by 2035, almost 18,000 accounting, audit, and finance professionals will be lacking in the country. This is not just a challenge for the accounting profession but for Australia's productivity, competitiveness, and long-term economic resilience.

As Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers noted at the report's launch, 'a strong accounting profession is a really important foundation for the strong economy that we are trying to build together'. The same research found that the accounting profession contributes $82.4 billion to the Australian economy each year and supports over 365,000 jobs.

However, the pipeline of accounting talent is shrinking due to structural issues such as declining course completions (down 61% since 2018), low domestic enrolments, and a decline in skilled migration outcomes for accountants. An ageing workforce and retirement-driven attrition will also remove around 108,000 professionals from the workforce over the next decade.