Many older Australians are up-skilling or retraining to maintain gainful employment or pursue other interests. In this systematic review of existing research, Peter Thomson, Susan Dawe, Alison Anlezark, Kaye Bowman set out to find evidence that skill development activities for the mature-aged lead to improved employment opportunities and productivity. They also look at what factors...

Sue Foster and Francesca Beddie show that literacy and numeracy practices change over time, and that the literacy challenge is not confined to those people traditionally considered to be poorly educated or unsuccessful. They consider Australia's place in the international arena, and look at strategies for integrating literacy into unconventional learning environments and at ways...

Key messages A systematic review of research is a decision-making tool for policy and practice. It is a piece of research in its own right, using explicit and rigorous methods that follow a standard set of stages. These methods identify, critically appraise and synthesise relevant research (both published and unpublished) around a specific research question...

The number of people completing an apprenticeship or traineeship in the year ending 31 December 2004 was 11 per cent higher than the number completing in the same period in 2003, according to this new set of national statistics. In the twelve months to December 2004, 139,000 people completed an apprenticeship or traineeship compared with...

Lee Ridoutt, Chris Selby Smith, Kevin Hummel, Christina Cheang look at how employers value and use qualifications in their business decisions. Their research indicates clear differences in the value placed on and use made of qualifications by employers for different groups of workers and occupations. Qualifications are considered more important for higher-level occupations and employers...