4234.0 - Work-Related Training and Adult Learning, Australia, Apr 2013 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 06/12/2013  First Issue
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MEDIA RELEASE
6 December 2013
Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
220/2013

Eight million Australians are learning for work or fun

Around eight million people, or just under half of Australia's working age population, undertook some type of training or study in the last 12 months according to a new survey from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

"We found that 3.7 million people participated in formal study in the year prior to the survey, while 1.4 million undertook non-formal study for personal interest, and around 4.6 million undertook non-formal work-related training," said Myles Burleigh from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, "and many undertook more than one type of learning over the year."

"Overall, we found that participation in work-related training varied by someone's occupation, the industry they worked in, and the size of the business they worked for.

"Around half the people working in professional occupations - such as school teachers, accountants and doctors - undertook work-related training over the year, but for occupations such as labourers, only one in five had undertaken any training.

"By industry, just over half of those working in education, public administration, mining and health care had undertaken training, while for people employed in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry it was around one in six.

"Business size also played a role - in businesses with over 100 employees, nearly half of workers had undertaken training, while for businesses with under 20 employees, one in five participated in training." said Mr Burleigh.

More women than men engaged in personal interest learning, and the most common reasons people reported for their personal interest learning were personal development (59 per cent ) and enjoyment or interest (37 per cent ).

More details are in Work-related Training and Adult Learning (cat. no. 4234.0), available from the ABS website www.abs.gov.au.

Media notes:
Work-related training is defined as training that does not result in a formal qualification, and was undertaken for employment reasons.
The survey covers the 12 months to April 2013.
When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.