One aim of vocational education and training (VET) is to provide a pathway to employment. The effectiveness of this, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, is an important policy issue. Research demonstrates that, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the transition from education to employment does not occur…

National Indigenous training and employment policy falls under the auspices of the Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS), an initiative which covers all facets of Indigenous social, economic, health and well-being across multiple Australian Government departments. Two of the main aims of the Jobs, Land and Economy component of the IAS are to…

This is the final report from a three-year program of research investigating the role of vocational education and training (VET) in workforce development. The research focuses on meat processing and child care, both of which are characterised by low-skill entry points to the labour market. The author pulls together the key themes emerging from the…

This paper was originally developed to help the Training and Skills Commission in South Australia consider the pathways between elements of the vocational education and training (VET) system, how they are working and what improvements can be made. It has been revised to make it national in scope. The authors reveal that quite substantial numbers…

"Research Messages 2013" provides a summary of the research published in 2015 by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). The research published in 2015 covered a wide variety of the themes, reflecting the relevance of the VET sector to the Australian economy and its increasingly important role in the higher…

Work practices in the meat-processing industry have changed in recent years. The industry has moved away from workers dressing a whole carcass towards a chain-based system, with each worker performing a single task along a moving production line. The nature of the meat-processing workforce has also changed. It is no longer dominated by seasonal…

The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) program studies the progress of several groups of young Australians as they move from school into post-secondary education and work. This technical paper contains the frequency tables for the LSAY 2009 cohort Wave 3 (2011) data set. [For the related questionnaire, see ED536306.]

Following the collapse of the US investment bank Lehmann Brothers in September 2008, the world economy began a downward spiral, with many countries falling into recession. Australia experienced significant stock market losses and unemployment rates began to climb. This briefing paper considers how young people fared in previous downturns and…

The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) program studies the progress of several groups of young Australians as they move from school into post-secondary education and work. This technical paper contains the questionnaire for the LSAY 2009 cohort Wave 2 (2010) data set.

An Australian Government priority is to increase productivity by moving people from welfare into employment. Policy on this issue is difficult to develop because of the complexities surrounding both under- and unemployment. This report considers underutilisation from two different perspectives. Not only does it contemplate the issue from the…

During the recent economic downturn, media and industry reports of skill shortages in the trades continued to appear. The intent of this paper is to examine the evidence for skill shortages in the trades persisting during the economic downturns over the last 20 years, using various indicators. These include employment growth, vacancy rates,…

The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) program studies the progress of several groups of young Australians as they move from school into post-secondary education and work. This series of documents provides supporting information for the LSAY data set of the 2006 cohort at wave 6 (2011). This document presents the frequency tables for…

The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) program studies the progress of several groups of young Australians as they move from school into post-secondary education and work. This series of documents provides supporting information for the LSAY data set of the 2003 cohort at wave 9 (2011). This document presents the frequency tables for…

"Research Messages 2013" provides a summary of the research published in 2013 by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) in the following broad categories: (1) skills and productivity: from VET qualifications to higher-level qualifications and issues affecting the workforce; (2) social inclusion and participation in…

As Australia's economy recovers from the economic downturn, attention is turning once again to skills shortages. To gain insights into the labour market for tradespeople, this report investigates changes in supply, demand and how adjustment occurred through the varied economic conditions of the past 20 years. It concludes that there was no overall…