SCHOOL EDUCATION

Attendance

Involvement in education at an early age has an impact on longer term educational outcomes. In the 2006 Census, 11,400 Indigenous children aged 3-5 years were reported to be attending pre-school and 6,800 attending primary school. The level of attendance at pre-school or primary school was similar for Indigenous and non-Indigenous children, with Indigenous children slightly less likely than non-Indigenous children to be attending pre-school or primary school in this age group.

Three year old Indigenous children in non-remote areas were more likely to be attending pre-school than three year old Indigenous children in remote areas (31% in Major Cities compared with 14% in Very Remote areas). Attendance rates for four year old Indigenous children were similar across all levels of remoteness with between 55% and 63% attending either pre-school or primary school. Five year old Indigenous children in non-remote areas were more likely to be attending pre-school or primary school than five year old Indigenous children in remote areas (87% in Major Cities compared with 70% in Very Remote areas).

In the 2006 Census, 16,600 Indigenous children aged 15-17 years were reported to be attending secondary school. Indigenous children aged 15, 16 and 17 years reported consistently lower attendance than non-Indigenous children of the same age. The difference in reported attendance between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children was more pronounced for 17 year old children than for 15 or 16 year old children, with 36% of Indigenous 17 year old children attending secondary school compared with 66% of non-Indigenous 17 year old children.

Indigenous 15-17 year old children were more likely to be attending school in non-remote areas than in remote areas. The difference in attendance between remoteness areas was most pronounced for 17 year old children. Indigenous 17 year old children in Major Cities were more than twice as likely to be attending school as those in Very Remote areas (44% in Major Cities compared with 16% in Very Remote areas).

Year 10 and Year 12 completion

In the 2006 Census, over 55,000 Indigenous people aged 15 years and over reported Year 12 as the highest year of school completed, however, Indigenous people in all age groups were less likely to report Year 12 as the highest year of school completed than non-Indigenous people. Indigenous people were more likely to report Year 10 than Year 12 as the highest year of school completed in most age groups.

Over 79,000 Indigenous people aged 15 years and over reported Year 10 as the highest year of school completed. Consistent with fewer people reporting Year 12 as the highest year of school completed, proportionally more Indigenous people reported Year 10 as the highest year of school completed than non-Indigenous people for all age groups, except for the 55 years and over age group. In this age group, fewer Indigenous people reported Year 10 as the highest year of school completed than non-Indigenous people (19% compared with 28% respectively). This in part reflects that more Indigenous people reported lower levels of education in this age group - 47% of Indigenous people aged 55 years and over reported Year 8 or below as the highest year of school completed compared with 20% of the non-Indigenous population.

More Indigenous people reported Year 10 and Year 12 as the highest year of school completed in non-remote areas than in remote areas. Indigenous people in Major Cities were most likely to report Year 12 as the highest year of school completed. In Major Cities, 33% and 29% of Indigenous people aged 15 years and over reported Year 10 and Year 12 as the highest year of school completed, respectively, compared with 24% and 13% in Very Remote areas.

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