NON-SCHOOL QUALIFICATIONS
JUSTIFICATION
Qualifications information from the Census is used, in particular, to support planning and policy development in the areas of education, training and employment. This is an area of significant public policy discussion and expenditure.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
An education question in which respondents reported their highest level of attainment was included in the 1911 Census. However, a question directly asking about educational qualifications was not included until 1966 when respondents were asked to provide their qualification name and the institution at which it was obtained. Since 1971, people aged 15 or over have been asked whether they have obtained a non-school qualification and, if they have, the level of the highest qualification they have obtained, the field of study, and the year it was obtained. This enables the highest non-school qualification to be coded to a detailed classification incorporating both level and field of study.
Following developments in education and training and the introduction of the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) (see the Information Paper Measuring Learning in Australia - A Framework for Education and Training Statistics, cat. no. 4213.0), the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED) (cat. no. 1272.0) was introduced in 2001. ASCED comprises two components: level of education and field of education. For the 2001 Census, question wording, instructions and examples were modified to accommodate the AQF and the introduction of the ASCED.
For the 2006 Census, the year completed question was reworded to ask if the qualification was obtained before 1998 or from 1998 onward, with 1998 being the year the AQF was introduced. The distinction between certificates awarded pre-1998 and from 1998 is also used to assist in coding some certificates to finer levels of the ASCED classification.
A question asking for the name of the institution where the person's highest non-school qualification was completed was not asked in 2006. In previous Censuses, this data was used to assist in coding the person's highest non-school qualification but its removal was expected to have minimal impact on the quality of the coding.
COMMENTS
Questions on qualifications generally have a fairly high level of non-response. However, analysis shows that this is mostly from those without qualifications and therefore the Census data remains relevant to the users.
There are also problems with interpreting level and main field of highest non-school qualification responses, particularly for overseas qualifications, qualifications obtained some time ago and where inadequate descriptions are provided by respondents.
USER REQUIREMENTS
Data on educational qualifications are important for the assessment of the skill level of the labour force and are therefore valuable for the planning and implementation of labour force training programs. The data are also used extensively in such areas as:
- labour force analysis, planning and policy formulation
- modelling employment projections
- assessment of performance of the education sector against government targets
- monitoring long term outcomes of school education and lifelong learning
- international comparisons and benchmarking
- equity assessment and provision of educational services
- studies of skill wastage or underutilisation
- vocational education and training policy formation and planning of courses
- assisting in determining education demand and educational programs
- matching educational investment with industry development
- analysing industry of employment of graduates against main field of highest educational attainment.
Some users require data on level of qualifications as a general indicator of education advantage for use in socioeconomic analysis of groups in the population.
AVAILABILITY OF NON-CENSUS DATA
Monthly labour force surveys ask people about the level and field of their highest educational qualification. Data on level and field of highest educational attainment for people aged 15-64 are also available from the Survey of Education and Work (results released in Education and Work, Australia, cat. no. 6227.0).
Information on non-school qualifications is also regularly collected in household surveys, including:
- Survey of Education and Training
- General Social Survey
- Multi-purpose Household Survey
- National Health Survey
- Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers
- Labour Force Supplementary Surveys.
However, these surveys do not provide reliable data at the small area level or for small population groups.
Administrative data provide detailed information on non-school qualifications. These items are also embedded into the Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard, for the collection of administrative vocational education and training statistics by training providers.
2006 CENSUS QUESTIONS
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