Participation in personal interest learning

In 2016-17, an estimated 1.1 million Australians (6.1%) participated in structured personal interest learning. This was a decrease from 2013 (8.4%).

Graph 1 - Participation in personal interest learning by age groups, 2013 & 2016-17(a)(b)(c)
Age groups (years)	2013 (%)	2016-17 (%)
15-19	11.3	5.7
20-24	6.8	5.5
25-34	7.7	5.7
35-44	7.6	6.7
45-54	8	6.4
55-64	9.6	5.9
65-74	8.7	6.4

Graph 1 - Participation in personal interest learning by age groups, 2013 & 2016-17(a)(b)(c)

["Age groups (years)","2013","2016-17"]

[["15-19","20-24","25-34","35-44","45-54","55-64","65-74"],[[11.300000000000001],[6.7999999999999998],[7.7000000000000002],[7.5999999999999996],[8],[9.5999999999999996],[8.6999999999999993]],[[5.7000000000000002],[5.5],[5.7000000000000002],[6.7000000000000002],[6.4000000000000004],[5.9000000000000004],[6.4000000000000004]]]

[]

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There were changes in collection methods between the surveys in 2013 and 2016-17. See the Explanatory notes for details.
Persons aged 65-74 years permanently not intending to work, and all respondents who were permanently unable to work, were not asked about work-related training and are included as not participating.
Data from 2016-17 has been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data. Discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

More women (7.3%) than men (5.0%) participated in personal interest learning. This gender difference was more marked in older age groups.

Graph 2 - Participation in personal interest learning by sex by age groups, 2016-17(a)(b)
Age groups (years)	Males (%)	Females (%)
15-19	5.2	6
20-24	5.9	6.2
25-34	5.5	5.9
35-44	5.3	8
45-54	4.6	8.2
55-64	4.6	7.2
65-74	3.7	8.9

Graph 2 - Participation in personal interest learning by sex by age groups, 2016-17(a)(b)

["Age groups (years)","Males","Females"]

[["15-19","20-24","25-34","35-44","45-54","55-64","65-74"],[[5.2000000000000002],[5.9000000000000004],[5.5],[5.2999999999999998],[4.5999999999999996],[4.5999999999999996],[3.7000000000000002]],[[6],[6.2000000000000002],[5.9000000000000004],[8],[8.1999999999999993],[7.2000000000000002],[8.9000000000000004]]]

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Persons aged 65-74 years permanently not intending to work, and all respondents who were permanently unable to work, were not asked about work-related training and are included as not participating.
Data from 2016-17 has been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data. Discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

Those with a postgraduate degree were more than twice as likely to participate in personal interest learning (11.1%) compared to those with a Certificate I and II (4.6%).

Graph 3 - Participation in personal interest learning by non-school qualifications, 2013 & 2016-17(a)(b)(c)(d)
	2013 (%)	2016-17 (%)
Certificate I and II	3.1	3.1
Certificate III and IV	6.4	3.8
Advanced diploma and diploma	10.3	7.3
Bachelor degree	12.5	9.7
Graduate diploma and graduate certificate	15.4	10.5
Postgraduate degree	14.1	11.1

Graph 3 - Participation in personal interest learning by non-school qualifications, 2013 & 2016-17(a)(b)(c)(d)

["","2013","2016-17"]

[["Certificate I and II","Certificate III and IV","Advanced diploma and diploma","Bachelor degree","Graduate diploma and graduate certificate","Postgraduate degree"],[[3.1000000000000001],[6.4000000000000004],[10.300000000000001],[12.5],[15.4],[14.1]],[[3.1000000000000001],[3.7999999999999998],[7.2999999999999998],[9.6999999999999993],[10.5],[11.1]]]

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There were changes in collection methods between the surveys in 2013 and 2016-17. See the Explanatory notes for details.
Participation in the 12 months prior to survey; persons aged 15 to 74 years.
Persons aged 65-74 years permanently not intending to work, and all respondents who were permanently unable to work, were not asked about work-related training and are included as not participating.
Data from 2016-17 has been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data. Discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

The ACT had the highest rate of participation in personal interest learning (10.8%).

Graph 4 - Participation in personal interest learning by sex by state & territories, 2016-17(a)(b)(c)
	Male (%)	Female (%)
NSW	5.2	8.4
Vic.	5.6	6.8
Qld	3.3	5.4
SA	4.7	8
WA	5.1	7.4
Tas.	5.8	6.7
NT	3	6.4
ACT	8	13.7

Graph 4 - Participation in personal interest learning by sex by state & territories, 2016-17(a)(b)(c)

["","Male","Female"]

[["NSW","Vic.","Qld","SA","WA","Tas.","NT","ACT"],[[5.2000000000000002],[5.5999999999999996],[3.2999999999999998],[4.7000000000000002],[5.0999999999999996],[5.7999999999999998],[3],[8]],[[8.4000000000000004],[6.7999999999999998],[5.4000000000000004],[8],[7.4000000000000004],[6.7000000000000002],[6.4000000000000004],[13.699999999999999]]]

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Participation in the 12 months prior to survey; persons aged 15 to 74 years.
Persons aged 65-74 years permanently not intending to work, and all respondents who were permanently unable to work, were not asked about work-related training and are included as not participating.
Data from 2016-17 has been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data. Discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

Based on the most recent personal interest learning course undertaken in the last 12 months, the main reasons reported by respondents for participating was to learn and improve skills (36.6%) followed by enjoyment or interest (33.8%) and then personal development (25.5%).

Two-thirds (65.5%) of those who participated in personal interest learning incurred costs for their most recent course, with 11.0% incurring costs between $1 and $99, 11.2% between $100 and $199 and 43.3% incurring costs of $200 or more.

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Participation in personal interest learning

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