Skills development

Access to education, skills development and learning throughout life

Metric

The share of adults (aged 15 to 74) who in the previous 12 months, participated in formal study which leads to a qualification recognised by the Australian Qualifications Framework, or non‑formal learning (structured training or courses) that do not lead to a formal qualification

Why this matters

It is important for Australians to have access to training and upskilling so they can take advantage of emerging job opportunities throughout their working lives. This will also help to ensure that people and businesses can adapt to change.

Progress

In 2020–21, 42% of people aged 15 to 74 years participated in formal study or non-formal learning, or both. This was a small increase from 41% in 2016-17, and a decrease from 46% in 2013.

Participation in learning amongst 15 to 74 year olds was:

21% for formal study - no change from 2016-17 and a small decrease from 22% in 2013
27% for non-formal learning - a small increase from 26% in 2016-17, but a decrease from 32% in 2013.

From 2026 onwards, this indicator will be updated annually with data from the expanded General Social Survey.

Proportion of people aged 15-74 years who participated in formal study or non-formal learning in the last 12 months
	Formal study (%)	Non-formal learning (%)	Total(b) (%)
2013(a)	21.6	32.1	46.4
2016-17	21.0	25.5	40.9
2020-21	20.6	27.4	42.1

Proportion of people aged 15-74 years who participated in formal study or non-formal learning in the last 12 months

["","Formal study","Non-formal learning","Total(b)"]

[["2013(a)","2016-17","2020-21"],[[21.600000000000001],[21],[20.600000000000001]],[[32.100000000000001],[25.5],[27.399999999999999]],[[46.399999999999999],[40.899999999999999],[42.100000000000001]]]

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Comparing data from 2013 with data from the other survey years should be done with caution due to differences in survey methodologies.
Components will not add to total as people may report participation in more than one category.

Data Source

Differences across groups

In 2020-21, total participation in learning in the last 12 months:

was highest among 15-19 year olds (90%) and lowest among 65-74 year olds (11%)
was higher among females (44%) than males (40%)
was higher among unemployed (52%) and employed (48%) than those not in the labour force (26%)
was higher in major cities (44%) than inner regional (38%) and outer regional and remote (37%)
was higher among those born in Australia (43%) than those born overseas (40%).

Disaggregation

Further information on skills development is available at ABS Work-Related Training and Adult Learning.

Disaggregation available includes:

age groups
sex
labour force status
educational attainment: level of highest non-school qualification
socio-economic status: Index of relative socio-economic disadvantage (SEIFA)
remoteness
family composition of household
country of birth.