LEARNING AND WORK, AUSTRALIA, 2010-11

The first issue of Learning and Work (cat. no. 4235.0) was released recently on 21 February 2012. It presents detailed information about the educational history of people aged 15 years and over and its impact on and relevance to their working lives. Data collected includes the level and field of each qualification, year of completion and whether the qualification was attained in Australia. Further information was collected on the relevance of each qualification to a person’s current job, the impact on working life in the first six months after completion and a person's cultural background. This information, when cross referenced with the Multipurpose Household Survey core modules of demographic characteristics, labour force participation and income, provides an in-depth understanding of the impact of non-school qualifications on working life.

Of particular interest to our Newsletter readers is a focus within this publication on the background characteristics of migrants with data collected on Australian citizenship, language spoken at home, English proficiency, year of arrival and level and field of highest non-school qualification before and after arrival in Australia. In all, seven tables are available in spreadsheet format from the Downloads Tab.

Here is a snippet of the Media release:

Migrants help boost Australia's skills Migrants have boosted Australia's workforce skills, with two-thirds of all working age migrants possessing academic or trade qualifications in 2010–11, according to a report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This is higher than the rate for people born in Australia (66% for migrants, 56% for Australian born). The proportion of working age migrants who were at least 15 years old when they arrived in Australia and who had already completed a degree has tripled, rising from 15% in the early 1990s to 44% in the last five years.