The strengths and abilities children develop from infancy through adolescence are crucial for their physical, emotional, and cognitive growth, which in turn help them to achieve success in school and to become responsible, economically self-sufficient, and healthy adults. Capable, responsible, and healthy adults are clearly the foundation of a…

Education policy-making in Australia remains one of the most complex of government's responsibilities, affecting a broad spectrum of social and political advancements of national and international importance. The advancement of education policy has been accepted as a key factor in achieving the labour productivity and innovation capacity that are…

The Australian State of Queensland's "Smart State" policy is the Government's response to global conditions that require a new type of worker and citizen for a new knowledge economy. As a result the Government has produced a plethora of documents and papers in every aspect of its operation to progress Queensland as a "Smart…

Prior to its election to office in 2007, the Australian Labor Party announced a commitment to introduce Trade Training Centres (TTCs) into all Australian secondary schools as an initiative of its Education Revolution. TTCs were proposed as a key element of Federal Labor's education and training policy that aimed to manage future risks to…

Australia's Lady Gowrie Child Centres, established in 1940 in state capitals, represent a continuing commitment to early childhood education by the Australian federal government. The six centers were built with an emphasis on outdoor space in inner-city, high-density, industrial, and slum areas where overcrowding and poor living conditions…

Describes Australia's retirement income arrangements, including age pension, private pensions, changes in provisions by the federal government, and factors that shaped changes. Notes that difficulties experienced by the government in introducing changes underscore political sensitivity of retirement income policy in Australia. (Author/NB)

The organization and funding of educational research in Australia since 1970 has been significantly affected by shifts in the control of the federal government from one political party to another and back. No central policy or focus for educational research existed in Australia until 1970, when the conservative government founded the Australian…

Traces the development of Australia's binary system of higher education, in which universities granted degrees and colleges of advanced education (CAE's) and teachers colleges issued diplomas and certificates, through the rapid growth of the past 20 years as Commonwealth funding has raised the level of teachers colleges and of CAE's, which now…

Describes and assesses some Australian federal initiatives in education and discusses their applicability to Canada. Presents more information relevant to the current discussion in Canada on educational developments. (Author/RK)

Traces the development and implementation of environmental education in Australia during the 1970s, focusing on the role of the Curriculum Development Center, the Australian Environmental Education Program proposal, a 1974 national survey, the Environmental Education Project, and future implications. (DC)

Aspects of recent changes in Australian higher education are explored, with focus on the Dawkins Agenda, which is related to the current political and economic situation. Questions about the success of John Dawkins, Federal Minister for Employment, Education and Training, in regard to higher education are raised (why he has been successful and…

The objective of the Family Support Services Scheme is to find new ways to prevent the breakdown of families and the institutionalization of children. The view taken in this report is that not much progress has been made toward achieving this goal. Criticisms of and recommendations for the scheme include the following: (1) The program attempts to…

The history of the recent development of worker education in Australia and New Zealand shows that, in just the past 15 years or so, very significant improvements have occurred in delivery of trade union education. To a very large degree these developments took place because of the existence of a close relationship between the union movement and…

This paper examines the structure and governance of higher education in Australia, including the federal and state roles, the functions of formal governing bodies, and finance. The paper also examines the organization of studies (bachelors through doctorate), the school admission process, the student financial aid scheme known as AUSTUDY, and the…

Resting on the assertion that there is less criticism of the federal role in education in Australia than in the U.S., this paper attempts to identify the structures and practices associated with this less negative view and to determine if they are transferable to the U.S. The first section provides a contextual comparison for national education…