Andrew Leigh

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury 

Opinion Piece

Setting Australian talent free

Published in The Policymaker

4 November 2025

A dynamic economy depends on movement. When people change jobs, ideas travel with them. A nurse brings new techniques to her next hospital; a software engineer introduces smarter code to her new firm. Economists call this allocative efficiency. Most people just call it getting a better job. 

Yet in too many workplaces, that movement is quietly being stifled. Over the past decade, clauses that prevent people from joining competitors, known as non-compete clauses, have crept into millions of contracts. Once reserved for senior executives, they now appear in agreements for teachers, carers, tradespeople, even baristas. 

A survey by the e61 Institute found that around one in five Australian workers, some three million people, are bound by a non-compete. Often these clauses are slipped into contracts automatically, copied from old templates without discussion or scrutiny. Many workers only discover them when they try to leave a job and are told they cannot. 

What began as a narrow tool to protect trade secrets has become a broad restraint on opportunity. The effect is to trap people in roles that may no longer suit their skills or family circumstances, and to deprive the wider economy of the benefits that come when talent moves freely. 

Senator The Hon Katy Gallagher
Minister for Finance
Minister for Women
Minister for the Public Service
Minister for Government Services 
Senator for the ACT

The Hon Andrew Giles MP
Minister for Skills and Training

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury
Member for Fenner

Alicia Payne MP
Member for Canberra

David Smith MP
Member for Bean

Free TAFE Proving Popular In The ACT

4 November 2025

New data released by the Albanese Labor Government has revealed there have been more than 685,000 Free TAFE enrolments across Australia since the start of the program.

The program, a commitment made by the Government during the 2022 election and introduced in 2023, encourages Australians to upskill with qualifications that local communities need, helping to address skills shortages in key areas like construction, care, and manufacturing.

The data also revealed that there have now been more than 190,000 courses completed – seeing more Australians starting careers as nurses, carpenters, aged care workers, electricians and early childhood educators.

In the ACT, among the most popular Free TAFE courses are Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care, Certificate IV in Cyber Security, and Certificate III in Community Services.

Canberrans are benefitting from significant savings as a result of Free TAFE, with a student undertaking a Certificate IV in Cyber Security able to save up to $3,400 on their course, while a student training in a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care can save up to $2,500.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH ROSS SOLLY
TUESDAY, 4 NOVEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: $2.8 million in Albanese Government funding for precinct planning in Canberra (urban Precincts and Partnerships Program), Sydney to Canberra rail line

ROSS SOLLY: So, as I mentioned there's a bit of an event going on down at the Kingston train station this morning with the federal government announcing it's going to kick some money in towards getting that project - that housing project up-and-running. Mary Goode is down there. Good morning Mary.

MARY GOODE: Good morning Ross. Yes, Canberra residents could be living by the Kingston railway station and jump on the train for a faster service to Sydney. That's where what's being imagined down here this morning. We've had Chief Minister Andrew Barr, the federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King and Member for Bean, David Smith all here this morning, as well as Member for Fenner, Andrew Leigh who I'm joined with right now. Good morning Andrew Leigh, what's the Commonwealth offering here today?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, thanks very much Mary. It's a really exciting $5.8 million joint investment. So, it'll be $2.8 million from the federal government, $3 million from the ACT Government, and the long-term plan is about 5,000 new housing units in Kingston and Fyshwick. This is a big precinct as people would know and it's pretty underused at the moment. It's a rather sleepy area, ironically around our main train station.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP 
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury 

The Productive Power of Purpose: Why Doing Good Is Good Economics

Social Traders Breakfast Event – ‘How Social Enterprise Drives Productivity'

Parliament House, Canberra

Monday, 3 November 2025

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, and pay my respects to Elders past and present. I extend that respect to all First Nations people joining us today.

Good morning everyone.

If you’ve chosen a breakfast about productivity over a sleep-in, that’s proof you already believe in getting things done.

Today we’re talking about a simple but powerful idea: that doing good is not the opposite of doing well. That the most productive economies are those that make the best use of their people, all their people.

Because productivity isn’t just about working faster. It’s about working smarter, and in a fair society, it’s also about making sure no one’s potential is wasted.

Inclusion enhances productivity. When more Australians are empowered to reach their potential, the economy allocates talent more efficiently.

That’s true for women entering male-dominated fields, for people with disability finding meaningful work, and for Australians from disadvantaged backgrounds building careers.

The statistics may not always capture the gains immediately, but the long-term benefits are undeniable. Productivity is what creates fiscal room for generosity, social room for imagination, and personal room for choice.

And that’s where social enterprises come in.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP 
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury 

Opinion Piece

The Power of Proximity: Why Getting Cities Right Matters

Published in The New Daily

2 November 2025

Cities are the beating hearts of Australia’s economy. They are where ideas collide, industries cluster and opportunity multiplies. But they are also where the nation’s biggest productivity challenges and cost pressures are most visible. If we want to lift living standards, we have to get our cities right.

For decades, economists have known that when people and firms cluster together, they become more productive. Workers share knowledge, businesses specialise and innovation spreads faster. Recent research from the e61 Institute shows that Australians who live in our capital cities earn on average around $8,000 more each year. Even after adjusting for education and occupation, about half the gap reflects what researchers call the “place effect” – the productivity advantage of being in a dense, connected environment.

Tracking the same workers over time, e61 finds that those who move to a city experience an enduring wage lift of around $12,000 after seven years. Cities don’t just pay more, they make people more productive. A city is an accelerator.

But not everyone benefits equally. Knowledge workers gain the most. For trades and care workers, the advantage is smaller or even reversed. High housing costs and long commutes risk undermining the rewards of city life for many Australians.

Senator The Hon Katy Gallagher
Minister for Finance
Minister for Women
Minister for the Public Service
Minister for Government Services
Senator for the ACT

The Hon Mark Butler MP
Minister for Health and Ageing
Minister for Disability and the NDIS

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury
Member for Fenner

David Smith MP
Member for Bean

Delivering more bulk billing for the ACT

Friday, 31 October 2025

The Albanese Government is making the single largest investment in Medicare since its creation over 40 years ago, an $8.5 billion package delivering on our commitment to strengthen bulk billing, support GPs, and make healthcare more affordable for all Australians.  

From 1 November, for the first time, bulk billing incentives will be paid to GPs for every patient they bulk bill. Previously these incentives were only available to children under 16 and concession card holders.

This landmark reform will boost the number of fully bulk billing practices to around 4,800 nationally by 2030, triple the current number.

Patients and families in the ACT are already seeing the benefits of our Government’s investments to strengthen Medicare and deliver more bulk billing.

An additional 44,784 bulk billed visits have been delivered in the ACT since we tripled the bulk billing incentive for children under 16 and concession card holders.

We expect more than 200,000 additional GP visits in the ACT will be fully covered by Medicare each year, saving families hundreds of dollars in out-of-pocket costs and ensuring they only need their Medicare card, not their credit card, when they visit the doctor.

Senator The Hon Katy Gallagher
Minister for Finance
Minister for Women
Minister for the Public Service
Minister for Government Services
Senator for the ACT

Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury 
Member for Fenner

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
SCULLIN GENERAL PRACTICE
FRIDAY, 31 OCTOBER 2025

SUBJECTS: Albanese Government delivering more bulk billing for the ACT, Senate QT, child care and child safety, ACT Liberals

ASSISTANT MINISTER LEIGH: Thanks very much everyone for coming along today. My name is Andrew Leigh, the federal Member for Fenner and it's terrific to be here with Katy Gallagher the day before bulk billing incentives kick off. Canberra has traditionally had lower levels of bulk billing than many parts of Australia, and we have worked assiduously since coming to government in 2022 to turn that around.

We've increased bulk billing incentives, but these new incentives that come into place tomorrow are going to be a game changer. We will be rolling out bulk billing incentives for all patients and putting in place practice incentives at the same time. And as a result, the Scullin General Practice from tomorrow will be bulk billing every single patient. It currently bulk bills around 70 per cent of its patients, but it will go to 100 per cent bulk billing from tomorrow. And across the ACT, the health department has had nine inquiries from different practices who are keen to switch to become fully bulk billing practices.

Bulk billing is the beating heart of Medicare, and Medicare is Labor invention. So, that's why Labor is so committed to ensuring that we get bulk billing rates up here in Canberra and across Australia. People in the regions often feel they like can't afford to see a doctor as a result of the cost of living, and we're turning that around by creating incentives for more GPs to go to pure bulk billing.

Today is also the 50th anniversary of the Racial Discrimination Act - another terrific Labor innovation, and we're really proud to be celebrating the Racial Discrimination Act today, as well as the new initiative that takes effect tomorrow. I'll hand over now to Katy Gallagher to say a few words.

MINISTER GALLAGHER: Thanks Andrew. It's lovely to be here with you and with the doctors at the Scullin Medical Practice. We really do appreciate Scullin Medical Practice allowing us to come and visit them and hear about how the tripling of the bulk billing incentive is going to make a difference to their Practice, and most importantly to their patients. We know that Canberra and the region surrounding us really has a lot of pressure around bulk billing, and we've been looking at every lever available to us to make sure that we're doing everything we can.

Ultimately, it is a doctor's choice about who they bulk bill, but governments can help by making sure those incentives work. And so, we're looking at, obviously, the tripling of the bulk billing for 16 year-olds or under 16 year-olds and concession card holders. That drove an extra 44,000 bulk billed presentations in the ACT. So, 44,000 additional bulk billed patients with that incentive. And we're going to watch exactly what happens when that incentive kicks in for everybody on the first of November. This is happening around the country, where we know that there are higher bulk billing rates than here in the ACT, but we know, again, that Medicare and bulk billing was on life support when we came to government. We've been doing Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, we've tripled the bulk billing rate for concession card holders; we're now doing this one. It's a huge investment, but we know it's the right thing to do.

The other thing for the ACT obviously, is the three additional bulk billing clinics that we promised at the last campaign. We are going through the process of tendering those now, and we are doing everything we can to get those up-and-running as soon as possible. We know that something additional had to be here in the ACT, and with Andrew, Alicia and David, we were able to argue for essentially, some special measures happening here in the ACT. So, we've got the change happening tomorrow and then over the next few months we'll have the results of that tender process and hopefully get those clinics up-and-running as soon as possible as well. Thank you.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP 
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury 

Delivery vs Disorder – Matters of Public Importance (Economy)

House of Representatives

Thursday, 30 October 2025

To call those opposite a clown show would be an insult to the hardworking clowns of Australia.

After going to the last election promising Australians they would have higher taxes, lower wages and bigger deficits, those opposite have proceeded to tear themselves apart over the last few months. As one of their most senior women, Fiona Scott has said, 'You don't win elections by threatening to sack the bloke next door.' Whether it's their internal climate wars, their immigration wars or their t-shirt wars, those opposite are less a Coalition than a chook shed in a thunderstorm.

We had the Coalition split after the election - the comical break-up which led, briefly to the Opposition Leader saying that it would be a frontbench drawn exclusively from the Liberal party room. As one backgrounded a newspaper outlet, they were ‘acting like kids’. For a while, the entire 15-member National Party cohort was to be moved away from the Speaker's chair towards the backbench seats, when suddenly they realised that they were making a decision that might affect their hip pockets and decided to reunite.

Then we had Senator Price defecting to the Liberal Party, nearly leaving the Nationals as a non-party in the Senate. Shortly after, Senator Price was dumped from the Coalition shadow ministry, not only because she couldn't back the leader but also for her highly offensive comments about Indian migrants. But she isn't the only one that seems to want to go back on Australia's multicultural success story - a multiculturalism that, as Tim Watts often reminds me, is supported by 9 out of 10 Australians.

The Hon Kristy McBain MP
Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories 
Minister for Emergency Management

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Member for Fenner

New Water Pipeline For Jervis Bay Territory

30 October 2025

Construction is underway on a major water infrastructure project to deliver a new water source to the Jervis Bay Territory.

The project will deliver a water pipeline connecting the Shoalhaven City Council-owned Vincentia Reservoir to the Stoney Creek Reservoir in the Jervis Bay Territory.

This project is part of a $15.8 million investment by the Australian Government in the long-term water security of the Jervis Bay Territory, ensuring the community has access to high-quality drinking water and modern infrastructure that meets current and future demand. 

Delivered in partnership with Shoalhaven City Council, the project is installing approximately 11 kilometres of new pipeline between the two reservoirs to secure a more sustainable and reliable potable water supply for the Jervis Bay Territory community.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP 
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury 

The Power of Proximity

Committee For Cities Event – Future Cities: From Ambition To Action

Parliament House, Canberra

Thursday, 30 October 2025

Introduction

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, and pay my respects to their elders past and present. I extend that respect to all First Nations people joining us today.

It’s a pleasure to join you in the Great Hall, a space that celebrates our democracy and, today, the beating hearts of our economy: Australia’s cities.

To the members of the Committee for Capital Cities – Melbourne, Hobart, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney – thank you for your work to champion liveable, dynamic and productive urban centres. As you know better than anyone, cities don’t just happen. They are built, economically, socially and institutionally, through the choices we make together.

Today I want to talk about those choices. I’ll start by exploring why cities matter for productivity, then look at what makes some cities perform better than others, and finally set out how we can move from ambition to action, building cities that are productive, sustainable and fair.