Report on Government Services 2023

Main aims of services within the sector

The child care, education and training (CCET) sector services aim to care for and develop the capacities and talents of children and students, to ensure that they have the necessary knowledge, understanding, skills and values for a productive and rewarding life.

Services included in the sector

• Early childhood education and care (ECEC)
  Services related to early childhood and out-of-school care, comprising child care and preschool services.
• School education
  Formal schooling, consisting of six to eight years of primary school education followed by five to six years of secondary schooling.
• Vocational education and training (VET)
  Tertiary education delivered by technical and further education (TAFE) institutes and other VET providers.
• Higher education — education delivered by universities (not included as a service specific-chapter in this Report).

Detailed information on the equity, effectiveness and efficiency of service provision and the achievement of outcomes for the ECEC, Schools and VET service areas is contained in the service-specific chapters.

Government expenditure in the sector

Total government recurrent expenditure for the CCET services for the latest years covered in this Report was $92.1 billion. School education was the largest contributor ($72.2 billion in 2020-21, table 4A.10), followed by ECEC ($12.8 billion in 2021-22, table 3A.4) and VET ($7.1 billion in 2021, table 5A.1). For the 2020-21 financial year (the most recent financial year for which data are available across all sections) this represented 29.1 per cent of total government expenditure covered in this Report.

For higher education, expenditure data are not collected for this Report, but in the ABS’s Government Finance Statistics (GFS) report¹ it was around $31.0 billion in 2020‑21.

Flows in the sector

The formal education and training system starts at preschool and continues through the years of compulsory schooling (generally year 10 — see sub-section 4.1, section 4) and post school education. Child care provides services to children aged 0–12 years, in the years before preschool begins and in out-of-school care during the primary school years (figure B.1). Formal learning does not always progress in a linear fashion from preschool to school (primary and secondary) to VET or university, as there are many learning pathways an individual might take over their lifetime.

Participation in education and training is particularly important for younger people. Nationally in 2022, 62.8 per cent of 15–24 year olds were enrolled in education and training (82.8 per cent of 15–19 year olds and 43.4 per cent of 20–24 year olds), compared to 7.7 per cent of 25–64 year olds (figure B.2).

Young people’s successful transition from compulsory schooling to education, training and employment is particularly important, with a positive relationship between completion of year 12 and subsequent engagement (figure B.3). Nationally in 2022, 75.9 per cent of 17–24 year old school leavers were fully participating in education, training and/or employment, an increase from 2021 (73.9 per cent).

Sector-wide indicators

Two sector-wide indicators of governments’ aim to develop the capacities and talents of children and students to ensure necessary knowledge, understanding, skills and values for a productive and rewarding life are reported.

• Achievement of foundation skills — proportion of 20–64 year olds who have achieved literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology rich environments (PSTRE) competencies.
• Attainment of qualifications — proportion of 20–64 year olds with qualifications at Certificate III level or above.

High or increasing levels of the achievement of foundation skills or attainment of qualifications indicates an improvement in education and training outcomes.

Achievement of foundation skills

Achievement of foundation skills is a proxy indicator as it measures only a subset of the skills and values needed for a productive and rewarding life. Data are sourced from the OECD survey Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) that measures adult skills and competencies for literacy, numeracy and PSTRE. Below level 1 represents the poorest level of skill attainment and level 5 the highest level of skill attainment for literacy and numeracy; level 3 represents the highest level of PSTRE skill attainment. The most recent PIAAC data are for 2011-12 and are reported in tables BA.16–18.

Attainment of qualifications

Attainment of qualifications is a proxy indicator for skills as it understates the skill base because it does not capture skills acquired through partially completed courses, courses not leading to a formal qualification, and informal learning.

Nationally in 2022, 66.2 per cent of 20–64 year olds had a qualification at Certificate III level or above (figure B.4). Qualification rates at Certificate level III or above are highest for 35–39 year olds and have been increasing over time. Data by Indigenous status are in table BA.15. Data for 20-24 year olds who have completed year 12 (or equivalent) or Certificate III level or above by remoteness are in table BA.11.

Footnotes

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (unpublished), Government Finance Statistics, Education, Australia, 2020-21, Canberra. Expenditure data from the GFS are not comparable to expenditure data collected for this Report. Locate Footnote 1 above