Cairns

Local workers - Qualifications - All industries

In Cairns, the workforce has a lower proportion with University qualifications compared to Queensland.

Qualification levels help to evaluate the economic opportunities and socio-economic status of local workers in a particular industry.

The level of qualifications in a workforce relate to a number of factors including:

  • The age of the workforce;
  • The skill and qualification level required to enter an industry;
  • The professional or working ambitions of people (to seek education as youth or retraining as adults);
  • The opportunities afforded to people to continue studying beyond compulsory schooling.

Educational Qualification statistics should be looked at in conjunction with Field of qualification and Occupations data for a full education analysis for Cairns.

Data source

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – Census 2016 & 2021 – by place of work

Current industry:
Current benchmark:
Sex:
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Local workers qualifications
Cairns - All industries 20212016Change
Qualification levelNumber%. QueenslandNumber%. Queensland2016 - 2021
Bachelor or Higher degree19,97926.829.315,71823.325.1+4,261
Advanced Diploma or Diploma9,28412.511.38,13512.110.9+1,149
Certificate I and II Level1,3021.71.51,0311.51.3+271
Certificate III & IV Level18,27324.623.216,08123.823.0+2,192
Certificate Level, nfd1,3421.81.81,4482.12.0-106
No qualification22,42730.130.722,89933.935.0-472
Inadequately described or not stated1,8032.42.22,1513.22.7-348
Total Persons74,410100.0100.067,463100.0100.0+6,947

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

Please refer to specific data notes for more information
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Dominant groups

Analysis of the qualifications of the in Cairns in 2021 compared to Queensland shows that there was a similar proportion holding formal qualifications (Bachelor or higher degree; Advanced Diploma or Diploma; or Vocational qualifications), and a similar proportion with no formal qualifications.

Overall, 67.4% of the workers who held educational qualifications, and 30.1% had no qualifications, compared with 67.1% and 30.7% respectively for Queensland.

The major differences between the qualifications held by the workforce of Cairns and Queensland were:

  • A smaller percentage of local workers with Bachelor or Higher degree (26.8% compared to 29.3%)
  • A larger percentage of local workers with Certificate III & IV Level (24.6% compared to 23.2%)
  • A larger percentage of local workers with Advanced Diploma or Diploma (12.5% compared to 11.3%)
  • A smaller percentage of local workers with No qualification (30.1% compared to 30.7%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the qualifications held by the workforce in Cairns between 2016 and 2021 were:

  • Bachelor or Higher degree (+4,261 local workers)
  • Certificate III & IV Level (+2,192 local workers)
  • Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+1,149 local workers)
  • No qualification (-472 local workers)

Cairns Regional Council

economic profile