5m Oz jobs may go in next 15 years: research

It is likely five million workers in Australia will be replaced by computers. Photo / Thinkstock

Australians worry about a 6 per cent unemployment rate now but research suggests that could pale into insignificance by 2030.

An analysis from the Committee of Economic Development of Australia warns that more than five million jobs could disappear in the next 10 to 15 years because of technological advancements.

It predicts Australia is on the cusp of a new industrial revolution.

"The pace of technological advancement in the last 20 years has been unprecedented and that pace is likely to continue for the next 20 years," CEDA head Stephen Martin said.

But computerisation and automation could see more than six out of 10 jobs in rural and regional Australia vanish. Automation has replaced some jobs in agriculture, mining and manufacturing, but the health sector has largely been untouched by technological change.

New jobs and industries will emerge but if Australia is not planning and investing in the right areas it will get left behind. The jobs least susceptible to automation will be technical professions, personal services and jobs in professional, technical and creative areas.

Highly likely five million workers replaced by computers.

Nearly 40 per cent of workforce would be affected.

A further 18.4 per cent face the medium probability of jobs vanishing.

"Government must lead the way with clear and detailed education, innovation and technology policies that are funded adequately," Martin says.

Communication Minister Malcolm Turnbull will launch a report today showing digital technologies are one of the fastest growing parts of the economy, demanding a further 100,000 workers over the next six years.

Deloitte Access Economics director John O'Mahony says the contribution to the economy and productivity is at risk if the workforce is not adequately equipped with the necessary ICT skills.

The stark warnings come as a survey found optimism about Australia's economic performance has taken a tumble.

The annual Lowy Institute poll found 63 per cent of respondents are optimistic about Australia's global performance over the next five years. But that's a 23-point fall from when the question was first asked in 2010, at the height of the global financial crisis.

Jobs to go/be affected

• Those with low levels of social interaction, creativity or dexterity

• Administration, sales, many service areas

• Telemarketers, accountants, estate agents, economists

• Most mines to operate with less than a third of the workforce

• Same automation levels likely where routine operation the norm: agriculture, materials or cargo handling

• Increasing automation of routine office jobs

• Health automation in clinical data and predictive diagnostics, robotics assisting in surgery, nursing, hospital logistics, pharmaceutical dispensary

- AAP