4230.0 - Education and Training Indicators, Australia, 2002  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 05/12/2002   
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MEDIA RELEASE

December 5, 2002
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
171/2002
New statistical report on education and training

A new report on education and training was released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Director of the Bureau's National Centre for Education and Training Statistics, Mel Butler, said Education and Training Indicators, Australia gives a comprehensive overview of education and training in Australia, using both ABS and other statistics.

"The Indicators publication is the flagship for the Centre. It will be an invaluable reference for anyone interested in education and training," he said.

The report gives a national snapshot on a range of data including providers, financial resources, human resources, participation in education and training, and outputs and outcomes. It also provides some contextual information such as statistics about Australia's population and the labour market.
Some points of interest:

... about providers of education and training
    In 2001, there were 9,596 schools, almost three-quarters of which were government schools. There were 87 government institutions (such as TAFEs) delivering vocational education and training programs in 1,322 locations, and 47 higher education institutions which reported student data to the Higher Education Statistics Collection conducted by the Department of Education, Science and Training.

... about financial resources
    Total expenditure on education in 2000-01 was $40.0 billion, with government expenditure of $29.6 billion and private expenditure of $10.3 billion.

... about human resources
    In 2001, there were 221,900 full-time equivalent school teachers, with a student/teacher ratio of 14.7, down from 15.4 in 1991. There were 62,200 full-time and 16,000 part-time permanent staff in higher education institutions, with 43% in academic roles.

... about participation in education and training
    In 2001, 18% of all 15 to 64 year olds (2.3 million people) participated in education and training, and 75% of people who had left school and were either working, or wanted to work, did some work-related training in the previous 12 months.

... about outputs and outcomes
    In 2000, 93% of Year 3 and 87% of Year 5 students reached the national reading benchmark. In 2001, 47% of all people aged 15 to 64 years had at least one non-school qualification, up from 41% in 1991. The unemployment rate for 15 to 64 year olds was 2.8% for those with a Bachelor degree or above, compared with 10.8% for those who did not have a non-school qualification and had not completed Year 12.

More details can be found in the publication Education and Training Indicators, Australia, 2002 (cat. no. 4230.0).