# Productivity measures may miss the real gains > Australia blames workers for low productivity, but the shift from manufacturing to services means we may not be measuring what actually matters. - Title: Productivity measures may miss the real gains · Abc | Shortify - Summary: Australia blames workers for low productivity, but the shift from manufacturing to services means we may not be measuring what actually matters. Australia's… - Keywords: productivity, australia, wages, services sector, health care, education, measurement, economy, reserve bank, productivity commission, news, politics - Source: Abc — https://abc.net.au/news/2026-10-19/how-do-you-measure-productivity/107164704 - Read time: 2 min - Topics: productivity, australia, wages, services sector, health care, education, measurement, economy, reserve bank, productivity commission, news, politics ## Workers blamed for low productivity Australian workers have been told wages will not rise until the country's low productivity rate improves, with workers blamed as lazy or inefficient. ## Services economy hides real gains As Australia shifted from manufacturing to services like health, education and care work, productivity measurement may no longer capture the full impact of work being done. ## How do you measure care work? Emeline Gaske, national secretary of the Australian Services Union, asks how to measure productivity in community services. Is it volume of clients or quality of outcomes? > For our members, say, providing support to women escaping family violence: What does productivity look like, in that environment? ## What productivity actually means Productivity measures how much an economy produces with a set amount of inputs like working hours, money and technology. It increases when you get more output with same inputs. ## Services now dominate the economy More than sixty percent of Australia's annual gross domestic product is created by services. The country faces a challenge measuring productivity in an economy based on care and teaching. ## Reserve Bank sees the problem Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock says finding productivity improvements is much harder in service economies. Australia is not alone but should still try to improve. > It's just much harder to find productivity improvements … Australia is in that situation as well. We're not alone. ## Homelessness worker sees complexity Georgia Harraway-Jones helps people move from homelessness to housing and employment. She worries blunt productivity measures ignore the social impact of complex community work. > Looking at productivity and looking at the inputs and the outputs and the soft outcomes, we really need to find ways to measure just the social impact. ## Productivity Commission wants change The Productivity Commission's deputy chair Alex Robson says productivity gains in future will look very different from the past. They will not come from replacing people with equipment. > Productivity gains are going to look very different in the future from what they have in the past. ## Focus on outcomes, not volume Instead of lifting the number of patients a nurse handles per hour, focus could shift to care that lowers expensive re-admissions. Prevention today avoids future costs. ## Research shows hidden productivity Toby Phillips of the Centre for Policy Development says adjusting measurements to include outcomes reveals productivity is much higher. Patient health and student learning gains are missed. > If our patients are living healthier lives, if our students are getting a better education, and if we're doing all of that for the same dollars, that should represent a productivity improvement. ## Numbers show the gap A Productivity Commission report adjusting for patient outcomes found productivity growing at three percent annually. Education productivity was one point three percent higher when learning outcomes were included. ## Public sector actually improving The Australian Bureau of Statistics found public sector education is getting more efficient per dollar spent. Public non-market productivity rose three point nine percent while private fell sixteen point eight percent. ## More clients means worse outcomes Georgia Harraway-Jones manages nineteen clients. Doubling her caseload would theoretically boost productivity but would leave no time to address the complex factors causing homelessness. > Frankly, they would receive worse outcomes. ## Key takeaway Australia's productivity measures fail to capture gains in health, education and care work, suggesting the economy may be performing better than official figures show.