A strong and sustainable schooling system that ensures all children receive an excellent education matters for Australia’s future. Strong education outcomes result in better work and life opportunities for us all as individuals and benefit Australia more broadly through improvements to national productivity, workforce participation, stronger communities and economic prosperity. The Australian economy has experienced...

This report card presents an overview of inequalities in child well-being in 41 countries of the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It focuses on ‘bottom-end inequality’ – the gap between children at the bottom and those in the middle – and addresses the question ‘how far behind are...

Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) sector delivers workplace specific skills and knowledge across a wide range of careers and industries, and is crucial to Australia’s social and economic prosperity. VET contributes to developing our national workforce, provides pathways to employment and addresses barriers to workforce participation. The VET FEE-HELP scheme commenced in 2009, and...

The Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) is a large and growing government programme that supports participation in higher education. Although the costs of HELP are included in the budget financial statements, they are not separately identified to allow the impact of the programme on the budget to be readily assessed. This report discusses the size...

Examines whether the Department of Education & Training (DET), non-government schools and their system administrators are effectively and efficiently managing and using grants. Summary Non-government schools provide education to around 334 000 Victorian school children, which represents around 37 per cent of all Victorian students. These schools operate in two ways—through system authorities, that manage...