Improving Labour Market Outcomes through Education and Training. Issues Paper No. 9. Produced for the Closing the Gap Clearinghouse

In recent years, the level of participation and attainment by Indigenous Australians in education and training has improved, yet substantial gaps still exist between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians. Education has to be a key focus if the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous employment rates is to be closed. This report draws from the 2011 Census data to quantify its importance for labour market participation, employment, and occupational destinations. The research is extensive and varied, and includes academic research articles published in refereed journals and other publications published or completed over the last 10 years. Also provided is the authors' own analyses of the 2006 and 2011 Census, and of data from the ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Labour Force Survey, National Apprentices and Trainees Collection, National VET (Vocational Education and Training) Collection, the Schools Australia catalogue, and the Student Outcomes Survey. The authors use those to provide descriptive information as well as to investigate linkages between participation and attainment in education and training and employment. The report begins by providing a snapshot of key demographics, followed by information on participation and outcomes from senior secondary education, vocational education and training (including apprenticeships and traineeships), and higher education. This is followed by a detailed account of employment outcomes across regions and occupations. The role of educational attainment in explaining the disparity in employment rates is then given a special focus. This document reports on studies that have looked at the need to take into account the multiple elements of economic participation, and focuses in more detail on the role of social capital, cultural attachments, and employer discrimination. It concludes with an emphasis on key findings about the role of education and the need to streamline programs and strategies. Appendices provide extra detail on methodological approaches and programs (including key objectives, funding regimes, and program evaluations). They are as follows: (1) Methodology for decomposition; (2) Selected programs aimed at young people and their parents by participation or progress to date; (3) Selected programs aimed at VET and higher education by participation or progress to date; (4) Selected programs aimed at improving employment outcomes by participation or progress to date; and (5) Additional relevant material in the Clearinghouse.