Results from the 1994 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey (NATSIS) and the 2002 NATSISS show that the proportion of Indigenous people aged 25-64 years who had a non-school qualification increased from 20% in 1994 to 32% in 2002. For those who reported their level of qualification, there was an increase in the proportion who had completed a Certificate or Diploma (13% in 1994 compared with 24% in 2002) and a Bachelor degree or above (1% in 1994 compared with 5% in 2002).
There was little difference in the proportion of males and females who had a non-school qualification in 2002 (33% for males and 31% for females). Reflecting the location of tertiary institutions and the availability of jobs that utilise tertiary qualifications, the likelihood of having a non-school qualification decreased with increasing geographic remoteness. Overall, 36% of Indigenous people aged 25-64 years in non-remote areas had a non-school qualification compared with 23% of people in remote areas.
Of those who had a non-school qualification in 2002, 70% had obtained a Certificate (of which 34% had a Certificate level III/IV and 31% had a Certificate level I/II), 11% an Advanced Diploma or Diploma and 14% a Bachelor degree or above. The majority of Indigenous people with a Diploma or above were female. Indigenous women were twice as likely as men to have an Advanced Diploma or Diploma and one and a half times as likely to have a Bachelor degree or above.
Management and Commerce was the most common main field of study among those who had a non-school qualification in 2002 (20%), followed by Engineering and Related Technologies (18%), Society and Culture (13%), and Health (10%). Indigenous men and women varied in their choice of field. Men were more likely than women to have a qualification in the fields of Engineering and Related Technologies, and Architecture and Building, whereas women were more likely than men to have a qualification in the fields of Management and Commerce, Health, and Education.
Although there have been significant improvements in the educational participation and attainment of Indigenous Australians in recent years, their levels of attainment remain below those of non-Indigenous Australians. Among those aged 25-64 years, non-Indigenous people were nearly twice as likely as Indigenous people to have a non-school qualification in 2002 (57% compared with 32% respectively). Non-Indigenous people were about four and a half times as likely to have a Bachelor degree or above and approximately twice as likely to have a Certificate level III/IV or Diploma (Chapter 2).
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