There is a tremendous upside to technological change. It has the potential to improve lives and wellbeing, save time and effort and help combat, if not overcome, so many of the obstacles to a good life in a thriving society.

But agreeing that technological change can improve living standards does not mean dismissing the real fears that people have about where, or whether, they fit into a work­force increasingly dominated by machines.

In our book, Changing Jobs: The Fair Go in the New Machine Age, former NBN boss Mike Quigley and I look at the impact of artificial intelligence, automation, robotics and machine learning on the workforce and on inequality in society more broadly. We pitch up 33 ideas for how our schools, policies and mindsets need to change if Australia is to best prepare for the changes to come. Here is a brief selection of 20 we think are worth considering:

1. Training and mentoring more STEM teachers: Competence in science, technology, engineering and mathematics will be more important than ever in the new machine age and having teachers with the skills and confidence to teach those subjects will be essential.

2. More, and more substantial, "flipped learning" trials: A concept that encourages students to take responsibility for their own learning, they initially learn the subject material outside of the classroom, with the teacher using class time to answer questions and clarify concepts.

3. Compulsory coding and robotics in primary and secondary schools: The Queensland government plans to enact this by 2020. We think it should be expanded nationwide.

4. Emphasis on computational thinking in schools: Computational thinking will be one of the most important skills in the new machine age, even for jobs outside of IT. Students need to be able to understand and formulate ideas clearly enough to be able to explain them to a computer.

5. Needs-based funding for schools to combat technological inequality: Governments must ensure equality of opportunity to all children, irrespective of their parents' incomes and home environment. This is a key recommendation that can be adopted in the near term.

6. Earlier education and intervention, especially in poorer communities: As economist Miles Corak points out, ensuring investment in new forms of education is targeted at early childhood is critical in helping to combat inequality.

7. A "social safety web" that uses big data for good, not evil: Big data and matching technology should be used not to demonise recipients or treat people as guilty of welfare fraud until proven innocent, but to ensure the social security system is responsive and working for people, not against them.

8. A focus on "caring services" skills, augmented caring roles and additional work opportunities for people with a disability: This will help people with a disability to be able to work at least some of the time, and we need social security payments to factor in the changing nature of work, who is working and what their caring responsibilities might be.

9. Rethinking reciprocal obligation for volunteers and mentors: We need to ensure life is rewarding and meaningful for those who might not be able to find work in the new machine age. That means rethinking reciprocal obligation – displaced workers receiving government support in return for something that is of benefit to society – so it doesn't just narrowly focus on Work for the Dole.

10. Income smoothing: This means evening out people's income over time so they are less susceptible to the peaks and troughs of unemployment. Some proposals include supplementing income once a displaced worker is forced to accept a far lower-paying job, or incentives to encourage workers to take out wage insurance.

11. Labour market programs that match skills, not jobs: Looking at workers' roles at a granular level and considering what skills might be transferable. For instance, if a truck driver's role becomes obsolete, they could use their strengths – logistics, knowledge of transport guidelines, communicating with dispatch or time management – in a different role.

12. Lifelong learning programs: The days of studying at the start of a career for a job for life are over. Programs that encourage workers to update their skills constantly and habitually as part of work, like Singapore's SkillsFuture initiative, could provide a strong framework.

13. Better income-contingent loans to help workers retrain: These types of loans have been tarnished in recent years by some dodgy operators, but income-contingent loans similar to HECS-HELP for university students, repaid through the tax system, could help those who do need to update their skills or learn new ones and sustain their living standards.

14. Learning accounts: Workers could elect to pay a certain percentage of their salary into these accounts to draw on for training costs and wage subsidies. They could provide tax advantages or be matched proportionately by government or even employers.

15. Portable entitlements: With the rise of the "gig economy" and as workers change jobs more frequently, they'll need to be able to take their entitlements with them. What form that will take will need some development, but those in insecure work, or working several jobs at once, should still have the opportunity to save for employment and insure against sickness or other risks.

16. Collective bargaining in the sharing economy: We need to ensure businesses in the gig economy don't undercut the wages of Australian workers. The best way to do that, and to ensure workers' rights are upheld, is to make sure collective bargaining is encouraged in the sharing economy.

17. Ensure workers share in companies' gains: This could involve "platform co-operativism", where people who work for and use networked platforms own them; employee shares; or, worker representation on boards.

18. Self-education and mentoring: As much as governments need to prepare for the new machine age, individuals also have to take responsibility for their future. Taking the initiative to educate yourself, your children and your loved ones in areas likely to be useful in the new machine age – mathematics and science, for instance – will be of immense benefit. It will also help to counter a cultural problem we have where people tend to convey apathy or even disdain towards maths and science.

19. Extra attention and training for girls: Almost twice as many boys as girls are studying advanced mathematics. Programs like the Girls Excelling in Maths and Science (GEMS) program at Mabel Park State High School in my electorate need to be encouraged.

20. Focusing on what makes us human: Although all jobs will change in the new machine age, there are some skills – such as persuasion, social understanding and empathy – that machines won't be able to replicate in the foreseeable future, making them even more valuable for workers and employers. Developing these skills will be a huge advantage.

Changing Jobs: The Fair Go in the New Machine Age by Jim Chalmers and Mike Quigley is published by Black Inc.