The Prime Minister has announced a national jobs and skills summit to be held in September.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the “much-awaited” Jobs and Skills Summit will take place on 1 and 2 September 2022 at Parliament House in Canberra. 

He says the summit will bring together unions, employers, civil society and governments to address shared economic challenges.

It is intended to focus on keeping unemployment low, boosting productivity and raising incomes, delivering well-paid jobs and wages growth, expanding employment opportunities, addressing skills shortages, improving migration settings, maximising jobs and opportunities from renewable energy, and ensuring women have equal opportunities and equal pay.

Just 100 attendees will be invited to Parliament House over two days to contribute to the skills and workplace agenda. Mr Albanese said on Tuesday that no attendance list had been finalised.

But Qantas has confirmed it will attend, as has Woolworths, while Coles and Uber have expressed a desire to attend the event. 

Arguments have already emerged between unions and business groups over what should be discussed at the meetings, and what resolutions and changes should result. 

Some unions want significant changes to enterprise bargaining, restrictions on terminations, and employers’ ability to cancel workplace agreements. 

Business groups including the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) want serious talks on productivity, skills shortages and immigration. 

Universities Australia expects its sector to play a central role at the talks, saying “universities have a fundamental role to play in solving labour shortages - helping to build the workforce of tomorrow and delivering the best and brightest people our economy needs”. Meanwhile, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) says it is looking forward to “discussing the deeply problematic levels of insecure employment, wage theft, sexual harassment and the gender pay gap in universities”.