Western Downs Regional Council

Resident workers - Qualifications

58.1% of the resident workers (All industries) in Western Downs Regional Council 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 Western Downs Regional Council'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 Western Downs Regional Council'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:
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Resident workers qualifications
Western Downs Regional Council - Persons20212016Change
Qualification levelNumber%. QueenslandNumber%. Queensland2016 - 2021
Bachelor or Higher degree2,42616.129.42,00613.925.1+420
Advanced Diploma or Diploma1,3899.211.31,2878.910.9+102
Certificate I and II Level3572.41.52591.81.3+98
Certificate III & IV Level4,32228.623.23,82626.523.0+496
Certificate Level, nfd2741.81.83152.22.0-41
No qualification5,94339.430.66,18942.935.0-246
Inadequately described or not stated3892.62.25363.72.7-147
Total Persons15,100100.0100.014,418100.0100.0+682

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 Western Downs Regional Council 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, 58.1% of the resident workers (All industries) held educational qualifications, and 39.4% 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 Western Downs Regional Council and (Queensland) were:

  • A smaller percentage of resident workers (All industries) with Bachelor or Higher degree (16.1% compared to 29.4%)
  • A larger percentage of resident workers (All industries) with No qualification (39.4% compared to 30.6%)
  • A larger percentage of resident workers (All industries) with Certificate III & IV Level (28.6% compared to 23.2%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the qualifications held by the resident workers (All industries) in Western Downs Regional Council between 2016 and 2021 were:

  • Certificate III & IV Level (+496 persons)
  • Bachelor or Higher degree (+420 persons)
  • No qualification (-246 persons)
  • Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+102 persons)

Western Downs Regional Council

economic profile