Australians of all ages building better futures for themselves
Date:
Mon, 01/08/2011
Spokesperson:
SENATOR THE HON CHRIS EVANS
A new report provides fresh insight into how Australians have been up-skilling and benefiting from the Gillard Government’s record investments in skills and higher education. The Australian Bureau of Statistics report, Perspectives on Education and Training: Pathways in Vocational and Higher Education, 2009, found that 64 per cent of men and 60 per cent of women aged 25–64 had a vocational education or university qualification in 2009. The Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills, Senator Chris Evans, welcomed the snapshot of pathways to higher skills and more rewarding work.
“The Gillard Government believes in the transformative capacity of education and this report shows our reforms are enabling all Australians, whatever their circumstances, the opportunity to get a great education,” Senator Evans said.
“Under this government we now have record numbers of Australian at university and in apprenticeships.
“The Gillard Government has opened the doors of Australia’s universities. As a direct result of our reforms we have seen almost 100,000 additional students grasp the opportunity of a university education since 2007.
“In the 2011-12 Budget the Gillard Government delivered one of the largest skills packages in our nation’s history – a $3 billion investment over six years.
“The Building Australia’s Future Workforce package will ensure industry has the skilled workers it needs to grow and prosper, and that more Australians than ever before will be able to access training and the life opportunities that come through having a job.
“We are also investing an additional $1.2 billion in higher education over four years.” The ABS report, released today, found that in 2009, 4.7 million people had a vocational qualification to start with, and one-third of them had gained another qualification afterwards.
Also there were 2.3 million who gained a Bachelor degree as their first qualification, and just over half of them (52 per cent) later complete another qualification. The ABS reported that the proportion of adults with at least one qualification rose from 54 per cent in 2001 to 62 per cent in 2009, and the proportion with multiple qualifications rose from 20 per cent to 25 per cent in that time.
