So, what do you want to be when you grow up? We have been putting this question to children and young people since the start of the Industrial Revolution. Whatever answer young people proffered – engineer, accountant, hairdresser, dentist, teacher, scientist, doctor – would then point them to the training they would need, and whether they should go to university or TAFE or enter an apprenticeship.

Today that question no longer serves. The assumption on which it is predicated – a single career for life in a stable workforce – is now false. The world of work is in a massive transition to an ever more global, technology-driven, flexible economy in which whole professions are being altered, new professions are coming into existence, and traditional jobs are being swallowed by automation.

We need to teach enterprise skills, starting in primary school and building year on year throughout high school. These must be taught in ways students want to learn, through experience and immersion with peers.

To cite just one example, app developers were a rare breed until the launch of the iPhone in 2007; now it is a thriving industry in its own right – at least for now, until a new technology comes along and apps face their own Kodak moment.

The Foundation for Young Australians has been researching this confronting and exciting change to how people earn their daily bread. It has sought to understand the dimensions of this change, the implications for young people – and thereby, the future of this country – and what we need to do to prepare young people for their economic lives.