One of the stranger sights during the election campaign was both sides promising to create lots of new jobs even as businesses across a range of industries complained they couldn’t find enough workers.

Women are giving birth in emergency departments and new mothers are prematurely discharging themselves from hospital, as a worsening shortage of midwives hampers access to maternity ward beds.

The new Labor government has made it clear it wants to change Australia’s trajectory on several fronts, and already has an agenda stacked with policies and reforms.

During the tech boom of the 1990s, companies would lure new employees with promises of office pool tables, beanbags and video games.

Construction has started on a 580-kilometre, $460 million pipeline in Western Australia that will take natural gas from the Perth basin out to resources projects in the state's Goldfields.

Fernanda* was one of around 80 international students underpaid by a cleaning company that went into liquidation and set up under a new name a short time later.

A major investment by one of the largest food manufacturers in Australia and New Zealand is creating a jobs boost in Ballarat. George Weston Foods will invest $132.9 million to build a new flour mill in the Ballarat West Employment Zone.

The unemployment rate remained at 3.9 per cent in April after the Australian Bureau of Statistics revised down the March result from 4 per cent.

Strengthening international education and introducing targeted visa settings will be critical to ensuring Australia has access to the global talent pool and skilled workforce essential to meet the demands of new and emerging critical industries.

No one left behind: Why Australia should lock in full employment shows that all workers suffer when unemployment is high, but the most vulnerable workers suffer the most. And the costs of failing to reach full employment increase over time.