Computers could replace five million Australian jobs in the coming two decades, from accountants to real estate agents and even some of the roles now performed by doctors.
A Committee for Economic Development of Australia report predicts almost 40 per cent of existing jobs will disappear because of technological advancements.
CEDA chief executive Stephen Martin says the vast majority of Australians will need to have a much higher degree of skill that particularly embraces computerisation.
"It's tempting to think a lot of what has come out of this report is a bit science fiction-like, that it's something out of Flash Gordon," Professor Martin said on Tuesday.
"But you've got to remember we've only had the world wide web for a relatively brief period of time, and look what that's done for the world as we know it."
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Prof Martin said automation has replaced some jobs in agriculture, mining and manufacturing and will affect other areas such as the health sector, which to date has remained largely untouched by technological change.
The report says there is a high probability that occupations such as accountants, estate agents and economists will not exist or will be significantly depleted by the 2030s.
It says information and telecommunication advances will probably affect jobs from telemarketers to insurance underwriters to radiologists, while in other professions computers will make individuals far more productive than they are now and significantly reduce the demand for these types of workers.
Health will be affected through automation in clinical data and predictive diagnostics to robotics assisting in areas from surgery to nursing, and from hospital logistics to pharmaceutical dispensary.
Prof Martin said new jobs and industries will emerge but Australia will be left behind if it is not planning and investing in the right areas, while it also needs to reconsider how it deals with reskilling workers as particular fields of employment disappear.
"Our labour market will be fundamentally reshaped by the scope and breadth of technological change, and if we do not embrace massive economic reform and focus on incentivising innovation, we will simply be left behind in an increasingly competitive global marketplace."
The report does not predict what types of jobs may be created but suggests the focus should be on training for skills that are unique and unlikely to be replicated by computers and automation, which could mean recreational therapists and dentists.
