Socio-economic outcome area 6

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students reach their full potential through further education pathways

Print/Download

Target 6

By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25–34 years who have completed a tertiary qualification (Certificate III and above) to 70%.

Nationally in 2021, 47.0% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25–34 years had completed non‑school qualifications of Certificate III or above (figure CtG6.1).

This is an increase from 42.3% in 2016 (the baseline year).

Nationally, based on progress from the baseline, the target shows improvement but is not on track to be met. However, this assessment should be used with caution as it is based on a limited number of data points. Please refer to the How to interpret the data page for more information.

The assessment below reflects progress from the baseline (improvement, worsening or no change). For the national assessment, the target outcome shows improvement but is not on track to be met.

NSWVicQldWASATasACTNTAust
Assessment of progress 2016 to 2021ImprovementImprovementImprovementImprovementImprovementImprovementImprovementImprovementImprovement but target not on track to be met

right arrow improvement rectangle no change left arrow worsening not applicable as required data not available. tick good improvement and target on track to be met. circle improvement but target not on track to be met.

Note: These assessments of progress should be used with caution as they are based on a limited number of data points.

Disaggregations

Data tables appear under figures

By sex

Nationally in 2021, a higher proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females aged 25–34 years had obtained a non-school qualification at Certificate III or above (50.6%) compared to males (43.3%) (figure CtG6.2). The proportions increased by about eight percentage points for females and two percentage points for males since the 2016 baseline year.

By remoteness area

Nationally in 2021, the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25–34 years who have obtained a non-school qualification at Certificate III or above was highest in major cities (56.6%) (figure CtG6.3). The proportions declined as remoteness increased, down to 17.4% for people living in very remote areas. The proportions have increased in all remoteness areas since the 2016 baseline year, other than for people living in very remote areas (where the proportion declined from 17.5% in 2016 to 17.4% in 2021).

By Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD) quintile

Nationally in 2021, the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25–34 years who have obtained a non-school qualification at Certificate III or above was highest in the least disadvantaged socio‑economic areas of Australia (69.4%) (figure CtG6.4). The proportions declined in more disadvantaged areas, down to 34.4% for people living in the most disadvantaged socio‑economic areas of Australia. The proportions have increased in all socio‑economic areas since the 2016 baseline year.

By disability status

Nationally in 2021, a lower proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25–34 years with a need for assistance with core activities had obtained a non-school qualification at Certificate III or above (28.5%) compared to persons who do not have a need for assistance (49.8%) (figure CtG6.5). The proportions increased by about six percentage points for both groups since the 2016 baseline year.

By highest qualification achieved

Nationally in 2021, the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25–34 years who had completed a tertiary qualification (Certificate III or above) was mainly driven by people who had completed a Certificate III or IV qualification (29.5%, an increase of around 2% since the 2016 baseline); compared to 7.4% of people who had completed an Advanced Diploma and Diploma (an increase of around 1% since the 2016 baseline); and 7.8% of people who had completed Bachelor degree (an increase of around 1% since the 2016 baseline). A little over 1% had completed a Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate and 1.3% had completed a Postgraduate degree (figure CtG6.6).

Target data specifications

Target 6: Increase the proportion of people who have completed a tertiary qualification

Outcome:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students reach their full potential through further education pathways.

Target:

By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25–34 years who have completed a tertiary qualification (Certificate level III and above) to 70%.

Indicator:

The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25–34 years who have completed qualifications at Certificate level III or above.

Measure:

The measure is defined as:

Numerator – number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25–34 years old who have completed non‑school qualifications at Certificate level III or above based on the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).

Denominator – total number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the population aged 25–34 years old.

and is presented as a percentage.

Target established:

National Agreement on Closing the Gap July 2020

Latest dashboard update:

15 June 2023

Indicator type:

Target

Interpretation of change:

A high or increasing proportion is desirable.

Data source:

Name: ABS Census of Population and Housing

Frequency: Five‑yearly

Documentation (links): www.abs.gov.au/census

Data provider:

Provider name: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

Provider area: Census

Baseline year:

2016

Latest reporting period

2021

Target year:

2031

Disaggregations:

State and territory and Australia, by Indigenous status.

State and territory and Australia, by Indigenous status, by sex.

State and territory and Australia, by Indigenous status, by remoteness areas.

State and territory and Australia, by Indigenous status, by Index of Relative Socio‑economic Disadvantage (IRSD) quintile.

State and territory and Australia, by Indigenous status, by disability status.

State and territory and Australia, by Indigenous status, by highest qualification achieved.

Computation:

Numerator divided by Denominator multiplied by 100.

Counting rules

The data is for all Australian residents enumerated in the Census that reported having a usual residence in Australia.

Geographical variables are based on a person's place of usual residence (on Census night).

Includes (numerator)

  • people who have attained Certificate Level III or IV, Diploma or Advanced Diploma, Bachelor Degree, Graduate Diploma/Certificate or a Postgraduate Degree.

Includes (numerator and denominator)

  • Australian totals include all states and territories (including Other Territories).

Excludes (both numerator and denominator)

  • people whose non‑school qualifications were recorded as ‘not stated’ or ‘inadequately described’
  • overseas visitors
  • people for whom Indigenous status was not stated. (Data on the number of people whose Indigenous status was not stated is provided for context).

Disaggregations:

Sex refers to a person’s biological characteristics. The 2021 Census allowed all respondents to select from three response options for the sex question: male, female and non‑binary sex. Where a respondent has provided a male or female response and a non‑binary sex response, the male or female response was used to determine a binary sex variable. Otherwise, sex was derived by a statistical process using random allocation).

Remoteness area is classified according to the ABS Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) using SA1 as the building block. For people with incomplete/invalid or missing address information, the ABS imputes the place of usual residence. The non-response rate at the SA1 level was 4.4% in 2021. Remoteness area disaggregations exclude ‘Migratory – Offshore – Shipping’ and ‘No usual address’. Please see the How to interpret the data page for more information.

Socioeconomic status of the locality is classified according to the ABS Socio‑Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA): Index of Relative Socio‑economic Disadvantage (IRSD), using SA1 as the building block. For people with incomplete/invalid or missing address information, the ABS will impute the place of usual residence. The data is reported by IRSD quintile, which is determined at the Australian level and excludes persons with unknown or unavailable SEIFA score. Some individual geographic areas were excluded from SEIFA for various reasons, such as low population or high non‑response to certain Census questions. Please see the How to interpret the data page for more information.

Disability is classified according to core activity need for assistance. The data is only available for people with a profound or severe core activity limitation. Disability data sourced from the Census is based on four questions to identify need for assistance and may not be fully comparable with data from other sources. See www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4431.0.55.002 for more information. (Data for people whose ‘need for assistance with core activities’ was not stated is provided for context.)

Highest qualification achieved describes the level of a person’s highest completed non‑school qualification and is categorised according to the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).

Extraction

Census Table Builder (Basic) – Employment, Income and Education: INGP X AGEP X HEAP (QALLP X HSCP prior to 2016) X Main ASGS (UR)

[Disaggregations: X SEX, X REMOTE (UR), X IRSD, X ASSNP, X HEAP].

Data quality considerations:

All data values have been randomly adjusted using perturbation to avoid the release of confidential data. Proportions/rates calculated for small populations should be used with caution.

Supporting indicators

Driver

Contextual information

  • Field of Education for higher education and VET
  • Higher education students’ views on outcomes, behaviours and satisfaction
  • Destinations and satisfaction of higher education graduates
  • VET graduate outcomes and satisfaction levels
  • Progress towards parity

Material for download

The Productivity Commission acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures, Country and Elders past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of people who have passed away.