RDA Darling Downs and South West 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 RDA Darling Downs and South West Region.
Data source
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – Census 2011 (experimental imputed) & 2016 – by place of work
Local workers qualifications | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RDA Darling Downs and South West Region - All industries | 2016 | 2011 | Change | ||||||
Qualification level | Number | % | Transport, Postal and Warehousing | Number | % | Transport, Postal and Warehousing | 2011 - 2016 | ||
Bachelor or Higher degree | 22,912 | 19.7 | 4.6 | 19,065 | 16.6 | 3.4 | +3,847 | ||
Advanced Diploma or Diploma | 11,635 | 10.0 | 6.3 | 9,578 | 8.3 | 4.2 | +2,057 | ||
Certificate I and II Level | 1,869 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 2,064 | 1.8 | 1.5 | -195 | ||
Certificate III & IV Level | 28,758 | 24.7 | 26.5 | 24,905 | 21.7 | 21.4 | +3,853 | ||
Certificate Level, nfd | 2,446 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 1,943 | 1.7 | 1.0 | +503 | ||
No qualification | 45,350 | 39.0 | 56.1 | 52,891 | 46.1 | 63.8 | -7,541 | ||
Inadequately described or not stated | 3,327 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 4,324 | 3.8 | 4.7 | -997 | ||
Total Persons | 116,297 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 114,770 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +1,527 | ||
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2011 and 2016. 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 RDA Darling Downs and South West Region in 2016 compared to Transport, Postal and Warehousing shows that there was a higher proportion holding formal qualifications (Bachelor or higher degree; Advanced Diploma or Diploma; or Vocational qualifications), and a lower proportion with no formal qualifications.
Overall, 58.1% of the workers who held educational qualifications, and 39.0% had no qualifications, compared with 40.9% and 56.1% respectively for Transport, Postal and Warehousing.
The major differences between the qualifications held by the workforce of the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region and Transport, Postal and Warehousing were:
- A smaller percentage of local workers with No qualification (39.0% compared to 56.1%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Bachelor or Higher degree (19.7% compared to 4.6%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Advanced Diploma or Diploma (10.0% compared to 6.3%)
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Certificate III & IV Level (24.7% compared to 26.5%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the qualifications held by the workforce in the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region between 2011 and 2016 were:
- No qualification (-7,541 local workers)
- Certificate III & IV Level (+3,853 local workers)
- Bachelor or Higher degree (+3,847 local workers)
- Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+2,057 local workers)