Understanding Australia's vocational education and training (VET) system can be daunting for observers. This paper, written as a background paper for a visit from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), describes Australia's VET system and how it relates to the broader set of education and learning options that are available to Australians. A section that lists statistical tables and attachments is appended. (Contains 1 box, 7 figures, 10 footnotes, and 24 tables.) [Funding for this paper was provided through the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.]