White paper - Luxury Retail Workforce and Education in Australia
Abstract
Explore the evolving challenges of the sector, particularly in relation to retail leasing and employment law!
Summary
On Thursday, 22 May 2025, the French Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FACCI), with the support of the Economic Department of the French Embassy, hosted a private Luxury and Retail Roundtable in Sydney. This edition of FACCI’s Luxury & Retail Club brought together senior executives from global brands alongside representatives from the Group of Eight universities.
This roundtable followed a growing momentum of sector-specific events held in 2024–25, including a prior session on retail leasing and employment law. These initiatives reflect the will of French diplomatic and business networks to address critical workforce and training issues in Australia’s luxury industry, a sector that is undergoing some transformations.
Australia’s luxury retail market is booming, with an estimated A$6.2 billion in revenue in 2023, and now hosting over 480 brands across high-end fashion, cosmetics, and homeware. Luxury retail is not only a vital component of Australia’s growing consumer economy, but also a key vector for tourism, exports, and high-value employment. The sector’s success, however, is increasingly constrained by skill shortages, labour mobility barriers, and a lack of structured talent pipelines.
The retail sector employs approximately 1.34 million Australians, nearly 10% of the national workforce, yet it seems that the career opportunities within luxury remain largely misunderstood or undervalued, especially by younger generations and graduates.
In this context, Vicki Thomson, CEO of the Group of Eight (Go8), underscored the strategic importance of research-intensive universities in future-proofing Australia’s workforce. This roundtable was an occasion to highlight the need for deeper collaboration between universities, employers, and international partners, particularly in areas such as fashion, design, branding, marketing, and luxury manufacturing. During this exchange, all the participants reaffirmed the need to reinforce the Franco-Australian relationship in higher education and innovation.
This white paper captures the key ideas, concerns, and some recommendations expressed during the session. It is structured around four key sections:
- an overview of the Australian higher education landscape and its intersection with the luxury sector
- an analysis of the challenges and perceptions surrounding careers in luxury retail;
- a presentation of emerging trends and strategic workforce needs
- a set of actionable recommendations to guide public-private collaboration in workforce development, education policy, and talent retention.
Higher Education and Research
Australia’s universities are globally competitive, especially in research. The nation’s universities achieved the second-highest research productivity score worldwide in Times Higher Education rankings, with an average research productivity score of...