Evidence from around the world shows low university participation among young people from low socioeconomic status backgrounds. A common concern is that disadvantaged young people may be unable to afford higher education costs. Using data on government benefits intended to support students from low income households in high school, we identify…

This document was produced by the authors based on their research for the report "School Completion: What We Learn from Different Measures of Family Background," and is an added resource for further information. This study relies on two main sources to analyse how Year 12 completion is related to disadvantage: the Longitudinal Surveys of…

This paper examines how disadvantage affects educational outcomes, in this instance, Year 12 completion. While previous studies have found a strong link between parental education or occupational status and Year 12 completion, this research was able to capture a broader set of cultural, material and resource aspects of disadvantage. It did this by…

The training requirements of foreign-born workers may be different from those of native-born workers in similar jobs. Over recent decades Australian immigration policy has focused predominantly on accepting high-skilled migrants. Although this focus has resulted in the successful integration of foreign-born workers into the Australian labour…

Younger workers, particularly those entering the workforce at ages 25-34 years, are more educated than ever before. The potential for these workers to be over-educated in their jobs might therefore be high. But does it follow that they are mismatched to the skill requirements of their jobs? This study examines the link between over-education and…

This report comes from a three-year program of research, "Securing Their Future: Older Workers and the Role of VET." Previous work from the program looked at how well workers were matched to their jobs, based on their literacy and numeracy skills and the use of these skills in the workplace. In a continuation of that work, the research…

Australia's ageing population has led to a focus on keeping workers in the labour market longer. This paper summarises the findings from the first year of a three-year research program investigating the role of vocational education and training (VET) for older workers. Examining the use of literacy and numeracy skills by older workers and how this…

The longer-term employment and training outcomes of enrollment in vocational education and training (VET) were examined. The study analyzed data from the 1993 "Survey of Training and Education Experience" (STE) and the 1997 "Survey of Education and Training Experience" (SET) which were conducted by the Australian Bureau of…