The community services and health industries have experienced a period of growth in recent times. This report focuses on the sub-section, alcohol and other drugs, which has had difficulty recruiting staff.
Using the 1995 cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth, this study looks at how the growth in occupational prestige is related to the level of an individual's education.
This paper was prepared for the Australian Government's National Resources Sector Employment Taskforce, which was created to investigate the extent to which skill shortages might impact on the development of the resources sector. It applies historical apprenticeship commencement rates to population projections to provide an estimate of the number of tradespeople likely to be working in the resources sector between 2010 20 at a detailed level and by region.
Using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth, this report looks at the extent to which a previous spell of unemployment determines current unemployment.
This report looks at whether vocational education and training (VET) is equipped to meet the changing needs of the modern workplace.
This briefing paper assesses the effect VET in Schools programs have on school retention, post-school vocational education and training (VET) and employment, and on young people's school and post-school aspirations. VET in Schools programs are seen as a way to increase Year 12 retention through broadening subject choices in the school curriculum. Research based on the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth suggest that, while participation in these programs has positive effects on attitudes to and satisfaction with school, it does not necessarily lead to increased Year 12 retention. However, participation in VET in Schools can influence a small group of students, who are intent on getting a job straight after school, to change their post-school plans to include further VET study or an apprenticeship or traineeship.
This report describes the characteristics of those who continue to work beyond the age of 65.
To what extent do local governments use vocational education and training as a staff retention strategy? Human resources personnel from a selection of councils around Australia believed that a lack of career development or training opportunities might cause an employee to leave their organisation. The had some reservations about the quality and value of VET, but planned to continue to use it for staff development as it is the most widely available option. This paper is by a novice researcher from the Community of Practice program, which is part of NCVER's Building Researcher Capacity initiatives.
This paper assesses the fitness-for-purpose of the existing Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) instruments as a source of information on the determinants of youth transitions in Australia.
In this interview, Steve Davis talks with researcher Tanya Bretherton about her report 'Developing the child care workforce: Understanding 'fight' or 'flight' amongst workers'. The early childhood education and care sector in Australia has long been characterised by low-skill/low-pay jobs. The current policy environment, however, may offer scope for the sector to move towards a path of skill growth. This report, based on case studies of four early childhood education and care providers, investigates how innovative employers are overcoming challenges in the sector to improve workforce development.
In this interview, Steve Davis talks with researcher Mike Dockery about his report on 'Education and happiness in the school-to-work transition'. Using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), this report examines the relationship between education and happiness. The report finds that undertaking vocational qualifications such as an apprenticeship has a positive impact on happiness both during the training period and after completion. For university graduates, however, happiness declines following completion of their study.
The early childhood education and care sector in Australia has long been characterised by low skill/low pay jobs. The current policy environment, however, may offer scope for the sector to toward a path of skill growth. This report, based on case studies of four early childhood education and care providers, investigates how innovative employers are overcoming challenges in the sector to improve workforce development.
The early childhood education and care sector in Australia has traditionally been characterised by low skill/low pay jobs and high staff turnover. Some employers, however, have attempted to combat high turnover through careful recruitment and skill development. This research overview describes the approaches of innovative employers who have excelled in the delivery of early childhood education and care services, while also providing staff with a high-quality workplace and attractive employment conditions.
Having a choice of transition pathways from school to work, further education or training gives young people the best chance of success. Using the 1995 cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth, this study looks at the role post-school qualifications play in the year-by-year movement between labour market states by young people. Higher post-school qualifications are found to increase the chances of being permanently employed and provide protection against being persistently unemployed or out of the labour force.
This study compared the work benefit and skill trajectories of a cohort of trade (vocational education) and bachelor (higher education) graduates of RMIT University in the first ten years of their working lives. It found that there are a number of key similarities and differences between the two groups in terms of further learning and occupational characteristics. In particular, both groups had high levels of satisfaction with work–life balance but differed significantly in their patterns of work and engagement in ongoing learning.
Increasing the number of people with vocational qualifications at the certificate III level or higher was one of the targets set by the Council of Australian Governments in late 2008 as a way of increasing the skill levels of the Australian population. But why enrol in vocational education and training (VET)? This study looks at the employment and earning benefits for individuals in completing a VET course and how these benefits may change over time. Compared with those who have completed Year 12, employment and earnings benefits are only gained from completing a VET course at the diploma level. However, compared with individuals who do not complete Year 12, such benefits can be gained from completing a VET qualification at any level.
One focus of the Australian Government's social inclusion agenda is to help people with a disability into work. For this to succeed, employers must be willing and able to productively employ people with a disability. The purpose of this study was to answer the question 'what would it take' to enable employers to employ people with a disability. Based on focus groups with select employers from small-to-medium enterprises, the research found that, while employers were quite positive about employing a person with a disability, they lacked confidence in dealing with disability employment issues.
Using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics of Australia surveys, the report finds that for people who are not working, completing a VET qualification does increase the chance of employment and more so for people with a disability.