Language, literacy and numeracy are necessary for greater workforce participation, productivity and social inclusion. Being able to measure the level of proficiency in these skills, and any changes in the level of skills, is important for getting a sense of how well language, literacy and numeracy programs are working. Two measurement tools used in Australia are the Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALLS) survey and the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF). This paper outlines an NCVER study which will investigate whether it is possible to map the performance levels of the ALLS to the performance levels of the ACSF in order to gain more frequent information than is currently available about the literacy and numeracy progression of adult learners against national goals.
In this report the authors seek to answer the question of whether combining school and work is detrimental or beneficial to a student's school educational performance and labour market outcomes. They find that young people who combine school and work are distributed right across the school population. Results show that individuals can combine school and work with minimal impact on their study if the hours are modest and those working longer hours show a stronger orientation towards work than study. The authors used data from the 2003 cohort (Y03) of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth.
Amongst recent initiatives aimed at lifting Australia’s productivity has been a push for a greater number of course completions in both the vocational education and training and higher education sectors. With this, it could be assumed, come benefits for the individual such as better job opportunities and higher wages. Using the 1995 and 1998 cohorts of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth, this study looked at whether participating in or completing a post-secondary education qualification led to wage benefits for young people. The study finds that not only completing a post-secondary course but participating in one results in higher wages.
Increasing productivity by moving people from welfare to employment is a priority for the Australian Government. This report considers the complex issues of helping those marginalised from the labour market into employment. Case studies of innovative intermediaries illustrate that both demand and supply factors must feature in order to provide successful assistance to disadvantaged job seekers. Strategies used include networking, adapting to changing conditions and reinventing themselves to fill gaps in the provision of support. Vocational education and training, often touted as an ideal pathway into employment for disadvantaged groups, is described by these intermediaries as inert in the absence of social and economic support.
The main impetus for the interest in innovation is that it is seen to improve productivity at the firm level and therefore improved economic prosperity and living standards. This edited volume was commissioned by the Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations. The authors contribute a variety of views on innovation from different perspectives. Some of the main themes running throughout the book are reasons for firms innovating, the skills required for innovation and how innovation and skills development is supported by the training system, the firm and government. Innovation is seen as moving beyond research and development, to include new products, services and operational/organisational processes.