Northern Rivers Region

Local workers - Qualifications - All industries

In the Northern Rivers Region, the workforce has a lower proportion with University qualifications compared to NSW.

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 the Northern Rivers Region.

Data source

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

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Local workers qualifications
Northern Rivers Region - All industries 20212016Change
Qualification levelNumber%. NSWNumber%. NSW2016 - 2021
Bachelor or Higher degree31,10026.438.423,19622.732.6+7,904
Advanced Diploma or Diploma13,04411.111.011,07510.811.1+1,969
Certificate I and II Level1,8711.61.21,6761.61.2+195
Certificate III & IV Level28,62624.318.124,80124.318.7+3,825
Certificate Level, nfd2,6482.21.92,9062.82.3-258
No qualification37,31531.727.035,19334.531.1+2,122
Inadequately described or not stated3,0982.62.33,3043.22.9-206
Total Persons117,702100.0100.0102,151100.0100.0+15,551

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 the Northern Rivers Region in 2021 compared to NSW shows that there was a lower proportion holding formal qualifications (Bachelor or higher degree; Advanced Diploma or Diploma; or Vocational qualifications), and a higher proportion with no formal qualifications.

Overall, 65.7% of the workers who held educational qualifications, and 31.7% had no qualifications, compared with 70.7% and 27.0% respectively for NSW.

The major differences between the qualifications held by the workforce of the Northern Rivers Region and NSW were:

  • A smaller percentage of local workers with Bachelor or Higher degree (26.4% compared to 38.4%)
  • A larger percentage of local workers with Certificate III & IV Level (24.3% compared to 18.1%)
  • A larger percentage of local workers with No qualification (31.7% compared to 27.0%)
  • A larger percentage of local workers with Certificate I and II Level (1.6% compared to 1.2%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the qualifications held by the workforce in the Northern Rivers Region between 2016 and 2021 were:

  • Bachelor or Higher degree (+7,904 local workers)
  • Certificate III & IV Level (+3,825 local workers)
  • No qualification (+2,122 local workers)
  • Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+1,969 local workers)

Northern Rivers Region

economic profile