CEO Update: Looking ahead to 2026

It’s been a busy couple of months at CEDA, as we’ve put the finishing touches on our final events and pieces of research for the year.

Last week we released the first in a series of papers on housing we are producing in partnership with Urbis. This piece, by our Senior Economist Danika Adams, focuses on how “gentle density” can help solve Australia’s housing crisis and garnered significant media coverage. Our next paper in the series, to be released early next year, will focus on modern methods of construction.

Later this week, look out for a novel piece of data analysis assessing the level of regulation in Australia. It reinforces the regulation problem confronting Australia.

While we’re looking forward to the summer break, we are excited for what’s coming up in the new year. We are focusing our efforts on three key flagship programs of work that respond to the biggest gaps we’ve identified as we track our Progress 2050 goals.

On Business dynamism, we’ll be looking at the policy and growth implications of trends in business formation and investment since the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Sustainable care, our focus is on immigration and the care workforce; and innovation, investment and funding, with particular attention on aged care against the backdrop of our ageing population.

And on Working futures, we’re looking at building future skills and knowledge as well as productive and inclusive workplaces.

If you’re interested in partnering with us on any of these topics, please get in touch with our Chief Economist Cassandra Winzar. 

Last week’s national accounts saw the economy grow at its fastest annual rate in more than two years in the September quarter, driven by the strongest growth in business investment in more than four years. While the growth was driven by investment in data centres and AI, and government spending, it remains below the near three per cent average Australia enjoyed before COVID-19, highlighting the importance of CEDA’s Progress 2050 agenda and flagship programs. 

What all of this means for Australia’s economic and political outlook will be top of mind at our Navigating 2026 series in capital cities around the country. Join us in February next year as we unpack the key forces shaping 2026.

Save the date for CEDA’s 4th annual Climate and Energy Summit, which returns to Melbourne on April 30. Later this week we'll launch the summit program, which will tackle the defining economic transformation of our time: shifting to a competitive net zero economy while strengthening climate resilience and delivering sustainable outcomes.

Further ahead, join us in Canberra for State of the Nation 2026 on June 24-26. Guided by the theme “Towards a prosperous future”, this program will ignite the vital conversations needed to steer the nation towards sustainable, long-term prosperity for all Australians.

Join us in Sydney on February 19 as we welcome ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb back to the CEDA stage to deliver her annual address. She’ll focus on issues including the ACCC’s evolving regulatory focus, emerging enforcement priorities, fair trading and consumer safety.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we were preparing to launch our new member portal. It is now live and features a streamlined interface and smoother event navigation. Click here to register to attend any of our events.

To finish, I would like to warmly welcome Beca as a new CEDA member joining us this month.