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Report on Government Services 2018

Part B, Chapter 5

Vocational education and training

This chapter reports performance information for vocational education and training (VET) services.

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  • Key Facts
  • Indicator Framework
  • Indicator Results
  • Indigenous Data

The Australian, State and Territory governments’ recurrent expenditure (including user cost of capital) on VET totalled $5.8 billion in 2016 — a real decrease of 6.7 per cent from 2015.

Nationally in 2016:

  • an estimated 4.2 million students participated in total VET, and around 1.3 million students participated in government‑funded VET
  • there were 4279 VET providers, of which 1931 delivered government-funded VET at 36 146 locations in Australia
  • 7.8 per cent of the Australian population aged 15—64 years participated in government-funded VET
  • around 367 300 qualifications were completed by government-funded VET students aged 15—64  — equivalent to 23.1 qualifications per 1000 people.

Nationally in 2017:

  • 87.8 per cent of all government-funded 2016 VET graduates were satisfied with the overall quality of their training
  • 71.4 per cent of employers engaged with VET were satisfied with all forms of VET training engaged with
  • 57.5 per cent of 20—64 year old total VET graduates from 2016 improved their employment status after training  — an increase from 56.5 per cent in 2016.

The VET system aims to deliver a productive and highly skilled workforce through enabling all working age Australians to develop and use the skills required to effectively participate in the labour market and contribute to Australia’s economic future. To achieve this, the Australian, State and Territory governments aim to create a national training system that:

  • is accessible to all working age Australians
  • meets the needs of students, employers and industries
  • is high quality.

Governments aim for a national training system that meets these objectives in an equitable and efficient manner.

The performance indicator framework provides information on equity, efficiency and effectiveness, and distinguishes the outputs and outcomes of VET services. The performance indicator framework shows which data are complete and comparable in the 2018 Report.

Indicator framework

An overview of the VET performance indicator results are presented. Information to assist the interpretation of these data can be found in the indicator interpretation boxes in the VET chapter and attachment tables.

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Equity — Access indicators

VET participation by target group

Most recent data for these measures are comparable and complete, subject to caveats

Participation rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population aged 15–64 years in government-funded VET, 2016

 NSWVicQldWASATasACTNTAust
% 25.4 18.4 11.9 17.5 13.5 8.9 13.2 16.9 17.8
Source: Attachment table 5A.8

Participation rate of 15–64 year olds from remote and very remote areas in government-funded VET, 2016

 NSWVicQldWASATasACTNTAust
% 23.2 8.9 12.4 10.9 11.1 17.8 .. 12.2 12.5
Source: Attachment table 5A.9

Participation rate of people with disability aged 15–64 years in government-funded VET, 2015

 NSWVicQldWASATasACTNTAust
% 4.6 6.6 2.8 4.0 4.9 4.2 5.1 10.2 4.7
Source: Attachment table 5A.10

Effectiveness — Access indicators

Student participation in VET

Participation rate for the population aged 15–64 years in government-funded VET, 2016

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
 NSWVicQldWASATasACTNTAust
% 8.8 8.2 6.7 6.7 6.3 8.7 5.8 12.6 7.8
Source: Attachment table 5A.8

Effectiveness — Appropriateness indicators

Students who achieve main reason for training

Proportion of government-funded VET graduates who reported that the training helped or partly helped them achieve their main reason for training, 2017

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
 NSWVicQldWASATasACTNTAust
% 83.9 ± 0.5 82.1 ± 0.6 80.6 ± 0.6 83.4 ± 0.8 83.7 ± 1.0 86.2 ± 1.0 87.1 ± 1.5 91.0 ± 1.4 82.8 ± 0.3
Source: Attachment table 5A.11

Employer satisfaction with VET

Proportion of employers who engaged in an aspect of VET, and who are satisfied with all forms of VET training engaged with, 2017

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
 NSWVicQldWASATasACTNTAust
% 72.8 ± 3.4 69.5 ± 4.1 69.7 ± 4.5 74.8 ± 4.8 69.2 ± 4.8 74.0 ± 4.9 74.1 ± 5.1 69.5 ± 5.0 71.4 ± 1.9

Source: Attachment table 5A.14

Effectiveness — Quality indicators

Student satisfaction with quality of training

Proportion of government-funded VET graduates who were satisfied with the overall quality of training, 2017

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
 NSWVicQldWASATasACTNTAust
% 89.2 ± 0.4 85.3 ± 0.5 88.2 ± 0.5 88.7 ± 0.7 89.2 ± 0.8 89.4 ± 0.9 87.9 ± 1.3 88.7 ± 2.2 87.8 ± 0.2
Source: Attachment table 5A.12

Efficiency — Inputs per output unit indicators

Government recurrent expenditure per annual hour

Government recurrent expenditure (including user cost of capital) per government-funded annual hour, 2016

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
 NSWVicQldWASATasACTNTAust
$ 18.00 11.79 15.07 16.72 16.47 19.98 23.03 23.12 15.29
Source: Attachment table 5A.2

Outcome indicators

Student employment and further study outcomes

Most recent data for these measures are comparable and complete, subject to caveats

Proportion of total VET graduates aged 20–64 years employed and/or in further study after training, 2017

 NSWVicQldWASATasACTNTAust
% 86.3 ± 0.4 85.2 ± 0.4 86.3 ± 0.4 87.3 ± 0.6 88.7 ± 0.6 89.5 ± 0.8 92.4 ± 0.8 91.9 ± 1.1 86.5 ± 0.2
Source: Attachment table 5A.15

Proportion of total VET graduates aged 20–64 years who improved their employment status after training, 2017

 NSWVicQldWASATasACTNTAust
% 57.2 ± 0.6 57.2 ± 0.6 57.4 ± 0.6 55.5 ± 1.0 60.2 ± 1.0 57.9 ± 1.3 64.2 ± 1.5 63.8 ± 2.0 57.5 ± 0.3
Source: Attachment table 5A.16

Student completions and qualifications

Government-funded VET AQF qualifications completed per 1000 people aged 15–64 years, 2016

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
 NSWVicQldWASATasACTNTAust
no. 19.6 23.3 31.3 22.1 15.6 26.1 17.1 30.6 23.1
Source: Attachment table 5A.18

Students who improved education status

Proportion of government-funded VET AQF qualifications completed by 20–64 year olds which were at a higher education level than their previous highest education level, 2016

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
 NSWVicQldWASATasACTNTAust
% 49.2 76.3 71.1 51.5 56.7 56.1 39.4 52.2 63.2
Source: Attachment table 5A.20

Notes

These data and caveats for these data are available in chapter 5 and attachment 5A.

Some percentages reported in these tables include 95 per cent confidence intervals (for example, 80 per cent ± 2.7 per cent).

.. Not applicable.

Performance indicator data for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this chapter are available in the attachment tables listed below. Contextual data and further supporting information can be found in the chapter.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander vocational education and training data
Table number Table title
Table 5A.8 Participation of 15–64 and 18–24 year olds in government-funded VET, by Indigenous status
Table 5A.11 Whether training helped graduates achieve their main reason for training, all government-funded graduates (per cent)
Table 5A.12 Proportion of all government-funded graduates satisfied with the quality of their training, by satisfaction outcome (per cent)
Table 5A.15 Proportion of 20-64 year old government-funded and total VET graduates in employment and/or continued on to further study after completing training, by target group
Table 5A.16 Proportion of government-funded and total VET graduates aged 20–64 years who improved their employment status after training, by target group
Table 5A.18 Government-funded VET AQF qualifications completed per 1000 people aged 15–64 years, by target group
Table 5A.19 Government-funded VET AQF qualifications completed per 1000 people aged 15–64 years, by AQF level
Table 5A.20 Government-funded VET AQF qualification completions by 20–64 year olds with improved education status after training, by target group