RDA Darling Downs and South West Region

Resident workers - Qualifications

62.5% of the resident workers (All industries) in the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region 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 the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region'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 the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region'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

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Resident workers qualifications
RDA Darling Downs and South West Region - Persons20212016Change
Qualification levelNumber%. QueenslandNumber%. Queensland2016 - 2021
Bachelor or Higher degree28,16922.329.422,40519.225.1+5,764
Advanced Diploma or Diploma12,68810.111.311,3609.810.9+1,328
Certificate I and II Level2,4591.91.51,8751.61.3+584
Certificate III & IV Level33,24126.423.229,10825.023.0+4,133
Certificate Level, nfd2,2891.81.82,4692.12.0-180
No qualification44,51035.330.645,96839.535.0-1,458
Inadequately described or not stated2,7712.22.23,3192.82.7-548
Total Persons126,127100.0100.0116,504100.0100.0+9,623

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 the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region 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, 62.5% of the resident workers (All industries) held educational qualifications, and 35.3% 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 the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region and (Queensland) were:

  • A smaller percentage of resident workers (All industries) with Bachelor or Higher degree (22.3% compared to 29.4%)
  • A larger percentage of resident workers (All industries) with No qualification (35.3% compared to 30.6%)
  • A larger percentage of resident workers (All industries) with Certificate III & IV Level (26.4% compared to 23.2%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the qualifications held by the resident workers (All industries) in the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region between 2016 and 2021 were:

  • Bachelor or Higher degree (+5,764 persons)
  • Certificate III & IV Level (+4,133 persons)
  • No qualification (-1,458 persons)
  • Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+1,328 persons)

RDA Darling Downs and South West Region

economic profile