Skills for a changing economy

This section reports on the effectiveness of efforts to increase the skill levels of working age youth to meet the changing needs of the ACT economy.

An individual with a Certificate III or above has improved employment outcomes, supporting their full participation in the ACT economy. A 20-24 year old with a Certificate III or above qualification is able to do skilled work in varied contexts and use their knowledge as a pathway to future learning.

Two indicators are used to assess progress towards increasing the skill levels of working age youth in the ACT:

• the proportion of 20-24 year olds with a qualification equivalent to or higher than AQF Certificate III level

• the satisfaction of ACT employers whose businesses use the vocational training system.

2.3.2.1. Are the skill levels of the ACT youth workforce increasing?

The skill levels of the ACT youth workforce are increasing slowly.

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In the ACT, the proportion of working age youth (20-24 year olds) with a higher level qualification—Certificate III or above—increased from 38.9% in 2006 to 39.8% in 2011. This is an increase of 0.9 percentage points.

Figure 2.3 reveals increases in all jurisdictions in 2011 when compared with 2006. The largest increases were achieved by Northern Territory (4.2 percentage points), WA (3.4 percentage points) and Tasmania (3 percentage points). The ACT had the lowest increase between the two Census years.

Figure 2.3: Proportion of 20-24 year olds with higher level qualifications (AQF Certificate III and above), by jurisdiction, 2006 and 2011

Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006, 2011

In 2011, 39.8% of ACT 20-24 year olds held a higher level qualification. This rate is slightly lower than the national rate of 40.4% in 2011. The ACT ranks fourth highest among the jurisdictions in this indicator. In 2011, Victoria was the best performing jurisdiction (42.1%). Two other jurisdictions performed above the national rate: WA (41.7%) and NSW (40.6%). See Figure 2.3.

Care should be taken when interpreting the results for the ACT, due to the

significantly high proportions of 20-24 year olds in Canberra who are still enrolled in study towards a non-school qualification.

2.3.2.2. ACT youth are more likely to be still studying towards higher qualifications

In 2011, a significantly higher proportion of ACT 20-24 year olds were still studying towards a qualification compared with 20-24 year olds in the rest of the nation.

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In the ACT, 1 in 2 (50.8%) 20-24 year olds were enrolled in study for a non-school qualification in 2011. This contrasts with a ratio of 2 in 5 (39.1%) for the Australian 20-24 year old population in the same year. The next best performing jurisdiction was Victoria (44.3%), followed by NSW (42.4%) and South Australia (38.3%). These results are consistent with long term trends, as can be seen in Figure 2.4.

In addition, the proportion of 20-24 year olds in the ACT enrolled in study towards a non-school qualification is increasing at a faster rate than the rest of the nation. The proportion of 20-24 year olds still studying increased from 45.8% in 2006 to 50.8% in 2011 (an increase of 5 percentage points). The ACT’s increase in the proportion of 20-24 year olds studying towards a non-school qualification was larger than all other jurisdictions during the same period.

Figure 2.4: Proportion of 20-24 year olds currently studying for a non- school qualification, by jurisdiction, 2006 and 2011

Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006, 2011

In the ACT, the high proportions, compared to the rest of the nation, of youth currently studying for a non-school qualification affects the ability to interpret the non-school qualification attainment rate for ACT youth.

In addition, the significant increase in the proportion of ACT 20-24 year olds studying towards a non-school qualification between 2006 and 2011 makes it difficult to

interpret the apparent slow progress towards increasing the qualification levels of ACT youth between the Census years.

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2.3.2.3. ACT employers have positive view of the VET system

A measure of how effectively the ACT VET system is responding to the skill

requirements of the ACT economy is the level of employer satisfaction with training as a way of meeting their skill needs.

A supplementary measure is employer satisfaction with the quality of the training provided by the RTO delivering training to their employees.

Half of employers in the ACT (50.6%) use the VET system.

An employer has used the VET system if they have met their skill needs by:

• having jobs requiring vocational qualifications

• having staff undertaking an apprenticeship or traineeship

• having staff undertaking other nationally recognised training.

In 2011 satisfaction remains highest among ACT employers who arranged or

provided their employees with nationally recognised training (85%). This was closely followed by employers who require formal vocational qualifications (84.3%) and employers of apprentices and trainees (80.6%).

ACT employers with apprentices and trainees showed the largest increase in satisfaction with the ACT VET system since 2005. See Figure 2.5.

The satisfaction levels of all three types of employers using the ACT VET system showed increases in 2011 when compared with levels in 2005:

• employers with apprentices and trainees (10.7 percentage points increase)

• employers with vocational qualifications as a job requirement (6.8 percentage points increase)

• employers using nationally recognised training (1.8 percentage points increase).

It is pleasing to note that the greatest increases are seen in the categories of employers with the lower satisfaction levels in 2005.

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Figure 2.5: Proportion of employers satisfied that training meets their needs, by utilisation of the VET system, 2005 and 2011

Source: NCVER Survey of Employers’ Use and Views of the VET System, 2005, 2011

In 2011, employers who chose CIT as the training provider to their apprentices and trainees had higher levels of satisfaction with the quality of training (87.5%) than employers who chose private providers (72.6%).

Figure 2.6 shows employer satisfaction with the quality of CIT’s training of

apprentices and trainees has increased since 2005, while employer satisfaction with the training delivered by private providers has stayed virtually the same. Between 2005 and 2011, satisfaction with CIT rose by 22.8 percentage points while

satisfaction with private providers decreased by 1 percentage point.

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apprentices/trainees Employers with vocational qualifications as a job requirement

Employers using nationally recognised training

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Figure 2.6: Proportion of employers who are satisfied with the quality of training delivered, by main provider to apprentices and trainees, 2005 and 2011

Source: NCVER Survey of Employers’ Use and Views of the VET System, 2005, 2011

Comments on data quality

The NCVER Survey ofEmployers Use and Views of the VET System (SEUV) does not enable the data to be broken down by ‘age of employees’. Therefore, data on the satisfaction levels of employers of 20-24 year olds cannot be provided.The SEUV is conducted every second year.