A comprehensive picture of the overall vocational education and training (VET) market combined with an updated profile of the VET workforce is essential to informing policy development and workforce planning to ensure the sector has the capacity to meet the skill development needs of industry in a rapidly changing economy. This report presents…

Changes in the qualification profiles of workers is one indicator of changes in the supply and demand for education and training. Using Australian Census data on highest qualification held (which may understate the incidence of Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications if they were obtained after completing higher education) this…

It has been eight years since the National Indigenous Reform Agreement (also known as "Closing the Gap") set out a series of areas and targets designed to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous outcomes on a range of measures. A key objective was to halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous…

This is a report of the first year of a three-year project entitled "Vocations: the link between post-compulsory education and the labour market." The project's aim is to research how pathways can be improved within education, within work, and between education and work. There are three strands in the project; the first strand is…

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…

Adult language, literacy and numeracy are essential ingredients for greater workforce participation, productivity and social inclusion. Both national and international research demonstrate the relationship between increasing levels of language, literacy and numeracy proficiency and positive outcomes for individuals, as well as for communities and…

The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) ask participants how satisfied they are with aspects of their lives. Their answers give us a measure of the subjective wellbeing of our youth and can be used to explore the link between education, employment and wellbeing. Yet, wellbeing is broader than satisfaction with life. It also encompasses…

The purpose of this report is to provide national data on the technical and further education (TAFE) workforce in 2008 and, where possible, compare this with 2002 data collected for the report "Profiling the national vocational education and training workforce" (NCVER 2004). Currently, there is no regular consistent national collection…

"Research messages 2011" is a collection of summaries of research projects published by National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) in 2011. The publication also has an overview essay that captures the themes and highlights from the research for the year, including: (1) the initial education and training of young people and…

One of the most striking features of the modern world is its changing demographic profile. In almost any policy arena, the issue of demographic change (or ageing) sits alongside globalisation, climate change and the knowledge revolution as areas which are transforming societies, including the ways in which we organise and go about our work…

Research messages 2010 is a collection of summaries of research projects published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). The summaries are clustered under five broad themes used by NCVER to organise its research and analysis: Industry and employers; Students and individuals; Teaching and learning: VET system; and VET in…

Multinational corporations are significant in the global economy, and increasingly important to national economies. Based on a literature review and 12 case studies of multinational corporations operating in Australia, the study finds the quality of the domestic VET-skilled workforce is ranked equal third in importance, out of fifteen factors,…

On May 5, 2006, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) in Australia announced the launch of "Research Messages, 2005"--a collection of summaries on all research projects published or completed by NCVER in 2005. The summaries are clustered under five broad themes used by NCVER to organise all of its vocational…

The demographic changes in Australia's labor market present challenges for technical and further education (TAFE) institutes. Within TAFE institutes, in which the teaching workforce is older than the overall national labor force, the imminent departure of many teachers endangers its prime asset - its skill and knowledge base. This report examines…