2076.0 - Census of Population and Housing: Characteristics of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2011 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/11/2012  First Issue
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EDUCATION

KEY FINDINGS

In the 2011 Census:

  • 56% of 3 to 5 year old Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children attended pre-school or primary school, up from 53% in the 2006 Census
  • 61% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 to 17 years were attending secondary school, up from 53% in 2006
  • more than one in three (37%) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over had attained Year 12 or equivalent and/or Certificate II or higher qualification, up from 30% in 2006.

EDUCATION ATTENDANCE

In the 2011 Census, 56% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 3 to 5 years attended pre-school or primary school compared with 63% of non-Indigenous children of the same age. Of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 6 to 14 years, 85% attended primary or secondary school compared with 93% of non-Indigenous children. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 to 17 years were also less likely to be attending secondary school than non-Indigenous people (61% compared with 81%).


ATTENDANCE AT PRE-SCHOOL, PRIMARY OR SECONDARY SCHOOL(a)(b)

Graph shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 3 to 5 years, 6 to 14 years and 15 to 17 years are less likely to be enrolled in pre-school, primary or secondary school than non-Indigenous people.


HIGHEST YEAR OF SCHOOL COMPLETED

In the 2011 Census, one-quarter (25%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over reported Year 12 or equivalent as the highest year of school completed, compared with about half (52%) of non-Indigenous people.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over who were not attending secondary school were more likely than non-Indigenous people to report Year 10 or equivalent as the highest year of school completed (29% compared with 22%). One-quarter (25%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over reported their highest year of school completed as Year 9 or equivalent or below, almost double the proportion of non-Indigenous people (13%).


HIGHEST YEAR OF SCHOOL COMPLETED(a)(b)
Graph shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were more likely to report Year 10 or below as the highest year of school completed than non-Indigenous people and less likely to report Year 12.

NON-SCHOOL QUALIFICATIONS

In the 2011 Census, about one-quarter (26%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over reported a non-school qualification compared with about half (49%) of non-Indigenous people. The most common non-school qualification for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was at the Certificate level (65%). Of these, 77% were Certificate III or Certificate IV qualifications.