Northern Rivers Region
Local workers - Qualifications - All industries
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
Current area:
Current industry:
Current benchmark:
Sex:
| Local workers qualifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Rivers Region - All industries | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||||
| Qualification level | Number | % | NSW | Number | % | NSW | 2016 - 2021 | ||
| Bachelor or Higher degree | 31,100 | 26.4 | 38.4 | 23,196 | 22.7 | 32.6 | +7,904 | ||
| Advanced Diploma or Diploma | 13,044 | 11.1 | 11.0 | 11,075 | 10.8 | 11.1 | +1,969 | ||
| Certificate I and II Level | 1,871 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1,676 | 1.6 | 1.2 | +195 | ||
| Certificate III & IV Level | 28,626 | 24.3 | 18.1 | 24,801 | 24.3 | 18.7 | +3,825 | ||
| Certificate Level, nfd | 2,648 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 2,906 | 2.8 | 2.3 | -258 | ||
| No qualification | 37,315 | 31.7 | 27.0 | 35,193 | 34.5 | 31.1 | +2,122 | ||
| Inadequately described or not stated | 3,098 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 3,304 | 3.2 | 2.9 | -206 | ||
| Total Persons | 117,702 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 102,151 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +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 | |||||||||
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)