A report released by the COAG Reform Council shows a ‘significant improvement’ in the skills of the Australian workforce.

 

The Skills and Workforce Development 2010: Comparing Performance across Australia shows the proportion of Australians aged 20 to 64 with minimum qualifications (Certificate III level or above) increased to 56.6 per cent in the last two years.

 

The report noted that the increases occurred in the most disadvantaged socio-economic areas: lower income, lower educational attainment and higher unemployment.

 

 The report also shows that in 2010, government-funded course enrolments in the vocational education and training (VET) system were 14.4 per cent higher, and enrolments of Indigenous students in higher level VET courses was 37.6 per cent higher than the average enrolments for 2005-07.

 

 “It is still very early stages, but the Council’s report shows that we are making steady progress towards the target. In the coming years, I expect that the effects of COAG’s investment in VET will be seen through further progress towards the target,” Minister for Education and Employment Senator Chris Evans said.

 

However, the report also shows falling employment rates among VET graduates.

 

“The proportion of VET graduates who were employed after training fell from 80 per cent in 2008 to 76 per cent in 2010,” COAG Reform Council Chairman Paul McClintock said

 

“We also found that if long-term trends continue, more effort will be required to meet COAG’s target of decreasing the proportion of Australians without minimum qualifications to 24 per cent by 2020. While it’s too early to see the effect of COAG’s reforms on these trends, meeting this target will be a challenge.”

 

The full report can be found here