In 2001, the Department of Education Science and Training and the Australian National Training Authority funded a project to analyse and report on current business requirements for ‘employability skills’. The project, conducted by the Business Council of Australia with the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was completed in March 2002.
The definition of employability skills used in the project was “skills required not only to gain employment, but also to progress within an enterprise so as to achieve one’s potential and contribute successfully to enterprise strategic directions”. Employability skills are also sometimes referred to as generic skills, capabilities or key competencies.
The Project Final Report 
(2.85 MB) provides a contemporary view of Australian industry on employability skills. The report can also be downloaded in two files file 1 (759.94 KB), file 2 (655.97 KB).
The project also produced three supporting research documents comprising: