• How the FSO Skills Accelerator‑AI is defining baseline graduate capabilities: AI fluency, digital collaboration, adaptability, and ethical judgement

• Gaps in graduate readiness: applied digital problem-solving and confidence using AI in real work

• Redesigning entry-level roles with skills-based progression, modular learning, and AI-enabled work

• What “job-ready” means in an AI workforce: skills signals, capability visibility, and practical AI application

• Why graduate employability is now a system-wide challenge, not just an education outcome

• How AI, automation, and productivity pressures are reshaping early-career roles

• The role of universities in moving from qualification delivery to capability and skills development

• What stronger alignment between education, industry, and policy must look like over the next decade

• How institutions can lead, not follow, in building future-ready graduates

• How to transform workforce disruption into opportunities for new skills, career pathways, and innovation

• Practical strategies for collaboration between education providers, employers, and policymakers to scale work-integrated learning (WIL) and other experiential programs that build job-ready graduates

• Policy levers and institutional initiatives that can future-proof graduate employability

• Inspiring examples of programs or projects already closing skills gaps and supporting early-career workforce entry

• Why degrees are no longer a differentiator and how “optional extras” have become baseline employability requirements

• The shift from linear careers to career agility as the new early-career norm

• Why deep expertise alone is no longer enough in fast-changing, AI-enabled workplaces

• The foundational, cross-cutting capabilities graduates need to stay relevant across roles and industries

• Designing flexible, sustainable pathways that support long-term career resilience

• Why traditional, linear career pathways no longer reflect how skills are developed and used across sectors

• How transferable skills can be identified, mapped, and recognised across employers, industries, and occupations

• The role of skills taxonomies, capability frameworks, and AI in making workforce skills visible and portable

• What employers, educators, and policymakers can do to enable smoother transitions between roles without resetting careers

A two-day, facilitated design process where cross-sector groups prototype practical solutions to strengthen graduate employability.

Each group defines:

• The employability problem they are addressing

• Who owns it

• What success would look like in 12–24 months

Stream A: A skills-first graduate recruitment program

Stream B: A stackable micro-credential pathway aligned to industry

Stream C: An AI-ready curriculum or assessment unit

• Real stories from recent graduates navigating entry-level roles in an AI- and automation-driven labour market

• Challenges faced in securing meaningful work, including competition, skill gaps, and shifting employer expectations

• Strategies graduates have used to build resilience, adapt, and stand out in a disrupted job market

• Insights for universities, employers, and policymakers on how to better support early-career transitions

• How AI is transforming graduate recruitment and assessment and what this means for defining a job-ready graduate

• What employers are seeing in candidates today, including capability gaps and readiness for AI-enabled, ethical work

• How universities and employers can redesign recruitment and preparation to ensure fair, transparent, and inclusive AI-supported hiring pathways

• What the data is telling us about emerging skills, workforce shifts, and the evolving opportunity landscape for graduates

• How AI, automation, and demographic change are creating new pathways, roles, and models of early-career work

• What organisations must do now to build future capability, from workforce planning to entry-level job design

• How education, industry, and policy can respond proactively to strengthen talent pipelines and ensure sustainable workforce growth

• Why investing in entry-level roles today is critical to long-term organisational resilience and economic prosperity

• How automation is reshaping entry-level work and changing the foundational skills graduates now need

• Why traditional “learn by doing” pathways are eroding, and how organisations must redesign mentoring and early-career support

• What clear, future-facing talent pathways look like in organisations at different stages of AI adoption

• How technology, skills data, and assessment tools are being used to support clearer, fairer early-career pathways in AI-enabled workplaces

• How employers can use micro-credentials and stackable learning to create graduate pathways, upskilling programs, and career-focused certifications

• Strategies for designing flexible, modular programs with universities, TAFEs, or industry partners to support career readiness

• Examples of employers using stackable credentials to recognise skills, build talent pipelines, and boost graduate employability

• How modular learning supports career progression, closes skills gaps, and prepares graduates for AI-augmented roles

• How industry–education partnerships are shifting from ad-hoc programs to long-term, strategic collaboration

• What it takes to build and maintain consistency across multiple initiatives, cohorts, and business cycles

• How micro-credentials, stackable learning, and AI-enabled training can act as a shared language between education and employers

• How universities and employers can operate as one extended talent team, supporting graduates from learning into AI-enabled, evolving workplaces

• What graduates actually need to succeed in complex, technology-enabled roles across government and industry

• How structured rotations, real-world projects, and applied learning create job-ready graduates faster than traditional models

• Lessons learned from designing inclusive, scalable graduate programs that attract diverse cohorts and deliver measurable outcomes

• Why investing in early-career digital capability is critical to future public sector performance, innovation, and service delivery

A two-day, facilitated design process where cross-sector groups prototype practical solutions to strengthen graduate employability.

Groups develop a simple implementation canvas:

• Intervention concept

• Partners required

• Risks & enablers

• First 90-day actions

Stream A: Graduate recruitment & hiring

Stream B: Transferable skills to build capability

Stream C: AI for early-career roles

Each design stream will get the opportunity to pitch their prototype live.

• Where we must act now for actionable changes for education, employers and policy

• Using data to shape curriculum and align graduates with evolving workforce needs

• Scaling work-integrated learning and clear career pathways for all students

• Prioritising skills-first hiring to match talent with employer requirements

• Guiding national strategies to strengthen graduate employability and workforce readiness