Of the 477,800 students reported to Australia's national vocational education and training (VET) data collection in 2000, 237,900 were enrolled in a vocational adult and community education (ACE) program. More than 70% of the latter individuals undertook informal training. Vocational ACE programs accounted for 49.8% of all ACE students and nearly 70% of ACE annual hours. Females constituted 66.7% of students in vocational ACE. Courses leading to Australian Qualifications Framework qualifications or the equivalent accounted for 64.1% of all annual hours in vocational ACE. The two main providers of nonvocational ACE programs were publicly funded training providers and technical and further education and other government providers. The total number of ACE students in 2000 was 3.8% lower than in 1999; however, the number of annual hours was up by 2.8% from 20.6 million to 21.2 million. The number of students in formal vocational ACE in 2000 fell by 2.8% from 1999, whereas the number in informal vocational ACE increased by 4.4%. ACE students came from a diverse range of educational backgrounds and were less likely to be unemployed than VET students. (Twenty-two tables/figures are included. The following items are appended: an overview of ACE in Australia's states/territories, different definitions of ACE across Australia's states/territories, and a glossary.) (MN)