Improving the educational outcomes of the various disadvantaged groups, such as Indigenous Australians, people with a disability, learners with low prior educational attainment and individuals from non-English speaking backgrounds, is a focus of many government policy initiatives centred on social inclusion. This research takes a regional approach…

After a period of dramatic growth in secondary school completion in Australia, school retention rates are declining. Analysis of state, system, geographic, social, and gender patterns suggests that during the 1990s the downturn in completion rate has been uneven; some groups who had come to rely on schooling during the 1980s for future economic…

Data for the Y95 cohort (first interviewed in 1995 when in Year 9) of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth were used to analyze the vocational education and training (VET) activities and experiences of Australian noncompleters of year 12 in their initial postschool years. Approximately 37% of the noncompleters had undertaken some type of…

The pathways of Australian graduates in their transition from school to further study and work were examined by analyzing Australian Youth Survey data regarding graduates who obtained a university degree or technical and further education (TAFE) diploma and who were enrolled for such qualifications in their seventh postschool year. Ninety-four…

Patterns of success and failure in the transition from school to work in Australia in the 1980s-1990s were examined by analyzing data from the Australian Youth Survey. Of those studied, 20% found full-time jobs upon leaving school and remained in full-time employment for the next 7 years, 13% obtained apprenticeships or traineeships leading to…

The vocational education and training (VET) outcomes of Australian school-leavers were examined. School non-completers identified in the 1995 national cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) were tracked annually from 1995, and their school experiences, educational attainment, and postschool participation in education,…

Changes in the extent, pattern, and outcomes of young Australians' participation in firm-based training from the 1980s to the 1990s were analyzed by comparing data from the Australian Youth Survey (AYS) and the Australian Longitudinal Survey (ALS). In 1994, 46% of those in the AYS sample participated in formal training (at age 16-24 years) and…

The changing patterns of noncompletion of school in Australia during the 1980s and 1990s and the outcomes of noncompletion were examined by analyzing data from the Australian Longitudinal Survey and the Australian Youth Survey. Despite improvements in completion rates among youths from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds and those in…