Rachael Brown reported this story on Monday, August 24, 2015 08:23:00

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: The future of work is increasingly digital but will the next generation of Australian workers be ready to meet the challenge?



Probably not, according to the Foundation for Young Australians, a national not-for-profit group that works with young Australians to create social change.



The foundation says 60 per cent of students are studying or training for occupations that will not exist in the future or will be completely transformed by automation.



It says the national curriculum is stuck in the past and digital literacy in particular needs to be boosted.



Rachael Brown reports.



RACHAEL BROWN: Jillian Kenny admits in high school she'd plot a different career a week.



JILLIAN KENNY: I wanted to be a lawyer like Ally McBeal one week, and then I wanted to be a pathologist, and then a pharmacist.



RACHAEL BROWN: The 29 year old is now a co-founder of a program that inspires young women to take up engineering.



JILLIAN KENNY: What I didn't realise that I got out of my training to become an engineer was all of these incredibly transferrable skills like strong communication skills, the ability to work really well with people, the problem solving skills and those critical reasoning abilities.



RACHAEL BROWN: Ms Kenny however is one of only a small group ahead of the game, according to the Foundation for Young Australians.



It says today's 12 year old won't have the same opportunities to get a start in the workforce, yet they're still studying the same curriculum.



JILLIAN KENNY: Nearly 60 per cent at university and nearly 70 per cent at TAFE or in VET (vocational education and training) were studying jobs that will be automated, so in that 44 per cent of jobs that will be automated in the next 10 years.



RACHAEL BROWN: The foundation's CEO Jan Owen says today's students will be affected by three key economic drivers.



JAN OWEN: Many different jobs and careers disappearing because of automation. The second driver is globalisation. A lot of different jobs that we're importing and exporting. And then thirdly collaboration, which is all about this new sharing economy.



RACHAEL BROWN: Ms Owen says today's youth isn't prepared for its diverse employment journey that could include five career changes and an average of 17 different jobs.



She says they should be gearing themselves towards those jobs that'll open up in the future.



JAN OWEN: Obviously in allied health or any area of health care and aged care. Obviously many, many jobs in the digital economy and the green economy will evolve.



In fact a report from Deloitte says that we gain jobs where we lose them often in technology, so we expect to see a rise in that.



The point is that young people need to be prepared for those jobs with 50 per cent needing digital capability.



RACHAEL BROWN: Ms Owen says it won't be enough for students to know how to operate a smart phone; they'll need to know how to build one. And embarking on one's digital literacy in year nine is too late. It needs to start in primary school .



She says Australia needs a national enterprise learning strategy.



JAN OWEN: This is a conversation that everyone needs to have and it's not a conversation for young people to try and sort out with their parents what to do.



RACHAEL BROWN: The young entrepreneur Jillian Kenny says mathematical literacy will also need to improve. She suggests Australia look at Finland's inquiry-based learning.



She's developed an app-based maths resource that links a student's lesson work their real life.



Take fashion for example.



JILLIAN KENNY: So you'll watch a video showing a day in the life of Alex Perry and he uses concepts like algebra and geometry every day in the work that he does.



And then based on what you learn through that video you get to go and design your very own digital fashion range.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Engineer and entrepreneur Jillian Kenny ending that report by Rachael Brown.