Sunshine Coast

Resident workers - Qualifications

69.0% of the resident workers (All industries) in Sunshine Coast have qualifications, compared to 67.2% for Queensland.

Education is an essential means of building the knowledge and skill levels of the labour force, which is a key factor in achieving future economic and social development.

The level of educational attainment for Sunshine Coast's resident workforce relates to a number of factors including:

  • The age structure of the resident workforce;
  • The professional or social ambitions of people to obtain qualifications (that is, to seek education and retraining);
  • The opportunities afforded to people to continue studying beyond compulsory schooling, and;
  • The knowledge and skill requirements of the local industries.

Qualification should be looked at in conjunction with Income , Occupations and Field of qualification for a clearer picture of the knowledge and skill level of Sunshine Coast's local resident workers.

When comparing the Qualifications of local resident worker with local workers, Qualifications statistics indicates whether an economy draws on the skills offered by its own residents or on a different set of skills imported from elsewhere in the region.

Data source

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – Census 2016 and 2021 – by usual residence

Current industry:
Current benchmark:
Sex:
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Resident workers qualifications
Sunshine Coast - Persons20212016Change
Qualification levelNumber%. QueenslandNumber%. Queensland2016 - 2021
Bachelor or Higher degree43,83927.429.428,96622.325.1+14,873
Advanced Diploma or Diploma20,30512.711.315,85212.210.9+4,453
Certificate I and II Level2,3401.51.51,7071.31.3+633
Certificate III & IV Level40,99225.623.233,64526.023.0+7,347
Certificate Level, nfd3,1812.01.83,0022.32.0+179
No qualification46,11028.830.643,06633.235.0+3,044
Inadequately described or not stated3,5162.22.23,3922.62.7+124
Total Persons160,283100.0100.0129,630100.0100.0+30,653

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions)

Did you know? By clicking/tapping on a category in the chart below you will be able to drilldown to the sub categories.
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Dominant groups

Analysis of the qualifications of the resident workers (All industries) in Sunshine Coast in 2021 compared to Queensland shows that there was a higher proportion of resident holding formal qualifications (Bachelor or higher degree; Advanced Diploma or Diploma; or Vocational qualifications), and a lower proportion of males with no formal qualifications.

Overall, 69.0% of the resident workers (All industries) held educational qualifications, and 28.8% had no qualifications, compared with 67.2% and 30.6% respectively for Queensland.

The major differences between qualifications held by the resident workers (All industries) of Sunshine Coast and (Queensland) were:

  • A larger percentage of resident workers (All industries) with Certificate III & IV Level (25.6% compared to 23.2%)
  • A smaller percentage of resident workers (All industries) with Bachelor or Higher degree (27.4% compared to 29.4%)
  • A smaller percentage of resident workers (All industries) with No qualification (28.8% compared to 30.6%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the qualifications held by the resident workers (All industries) in Sunshine Coast between 2016 and 2021 were:

  • Bachelor or Higher degree (+14,873 persons)
  • Certificate III & IV Level (+7,347 persons)
  • Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+4,453 persons)
  • No qualification (+3,044 persons)

Sunshine Coast Council

economic profile