11–12Economics 11–12 Syllabus (2025)

Record of changes

Implementation from 2027

Expand for detailed implementation advice

Overview Rationale Aim Outcomes Content Assessment Glossary Teaching and learning support

Content

Year 11

Year 12

Teaching advice

Examples

Economic issues in the Australian economy

The Business and Economics Life Skills 11–12 Syllabus and its outcomes are being developed alongside the Business Studies 11–12 Syllabus.

Economic issues in the Australian economy

Economic growth

Distinction between nominal GDP and real GDP
Calculate real GDP using the formula $nominal GDP \times \frac{CPI base}{CPI current}$
Relationship between GDP and economic growth $(\frac{real GDP current - real GDP previous}{real GDP previous} \times 100)$
Limitations of GDP as a measurement, specifically the exclusion of population, hours worked, the informal economy, the non-market sector, distribution of income, environmental degradation and depletion of the resource base
Types of economic decline, including negative economic growth, technical recession, per capita recession and depression
Factors influencing the components of aggregate demand $(A D = C + I + G + X - M)$ , including consumption ( $C$ ), investment ( $I$ ), government spending ( $G$ ) and net exports ( $X - M$ )
Effect of changes in the terms of trade $(\frac{export price index}{import price index} \times 100)$ on net exports and aggregate demand
Effects of changes in aggregate expenditure ( $AE$ ) on national income ( $Y$ ) through the multiplier effect
Calculate and interpret the simple expenditure multiplier ( $k$ ) using the formula $k = \frac{1}{1 - MPC}$ and its effect on national income using the formula $Δ Y = k \times Δ AE$
Factors influencing the components of aggregate supply, including productivity, quality and quantity of inputs
Identify an equilibrium position for an economy from leakages and injections using the formula $S + T + M = I + G + X$
Relationship between actual output and potential output
Construct and interpret aggregate demand and aggregate supply (AD-AS) graphs to demonstrate changes in GDP
Effects of economic growth and economic decline on households, businesses and the government
Reasons for trends in economic growth in Australia
Interpret and analyse economic growth data through tables, time series line graphs, column charts and bar charts

Employment and unemployment

Composition of the labour force, including employed and unemployed persons, part-time and full-time workers
Factors affecting labour force participation in Australia, including cyclical and structural influences
Calculate and interpret the rate of labour force participation using the formula $\frac{labour force}{working-age population} \times 100$
Economic implications of demographic shifts and changes to Australia’s dependency ratio, including possible effects on economic growth, government revenue and expenditure, immigration and retirement age
Types of unemployment, including cyclical, structural and frictional
Causes of unemployment and underemployment, including insufficient aggregate demand, structural changes, technological changes, labour market frictions
Calculate and interpret the rate of unemployment using the formula $\frac{unemployed}{labour force} \times 100$
Limitations of measuring the rate of unemployment, including hidden unemployed, underemployed and informal workers
Relationship between the labour force, labour force participation rate, unemployment rate and labour force underutilisation rate $(\frac{unemployed + underemployed}{labour force} \times 100)$
Economic and social effects of unemployment and underemployment
Reasons for trends in employment and unemployment in Australia
Interpret and analyse unemployment and employment data through tables, time series line graphs, column charts and bar charts

Inflation

Distinctions between inflation, deflation, disinflation and stagflation
Measurement of inflation from the consumer price index (CPI) using the formula $\frac{CPI current - CPI previous}{CPI previous} \times 100$
Distinction between the headline inflation rate and underlying inflation rate
Types and causes of inflation, including demand-pull, cost-push, inflationary expectations, imported inflation
Interpret aggregate demand and supply graphs that demonstrate demand–pull inflation and cost–push inflation
Relationship between inflation, unemployment and potential output
Negative effects of high inflation and deflation on households, businesses, the government and the economy
Reasons for trends in inflation and the cost of living in Australia
Interpret and analyse inflation data through tables, time series line graphs, column charts and bar charts

Inequality

Relationship between income and wealth
Types of economic inequality, including income, wealth and opportunity
Interpret income and wealth inequality using the Lorenz curve, Gini coefficient, Palma ratio
Cycle of poverty, intergenerational income mobility and the extent of relative poverty in Australia, based on the proportion of population below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) poverty line
Causes of economic inequality, including educational disparities, asset price inflation, wealth transfers, structural changes to the economy and government policies
Factors contributing to inequities in health and housing outcomes in Australia
Features of the gender pay gap, including wage disparity, occupational segregation, promotion gaps, the motherhood penalty and fatherhood premium
Reasons for economic inequality disproportionately affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
Effects of economic inequality in Australia
Reasons for trends in inequality in Australia
Interpret and analyse inequality data through tables and scatterplot charts, including the relationship between inequality and socio-economic outcomes

Environmental sustainability

Role of the natural environment in the economy, including the provision of natural resources, ecosystem services and amenities
Types of environmental issues arising from inefficient resource use, including the depletion of non-renewable resources, overexploitation of renewable resources, overproduction of waste and climate change
Measurement of environmental sustainability, including greenhouse gas emissions and ecological footprint
Intergenerational equity and its relationship to environmental degradation
Environmental impacts of market failure, including negative externalities related to overproduction caused by undefined property rights and positive externalities related to underproduction of environmental goods
Interpret demand and supply graphs relating to the natural environment that demonstrate negative externalities from production and positive externalities from consumption
Economic costs of climate change to the Australian economy
Reasons for trends in greenhouse gas emissions in Australia
Interpret and analyse environmental sustainability data through tables, time series line graphs, column charts, bar charts and scatterplot charts, including the relationship between the natural environment and production

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11–12Economics 11–12 Syllabus (2025)

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