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 Regional RDAs.
Data source
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – Census 2016 & 2021 – by place of work
Current area:
Current industry:
Current benchmark:
Sex:
| Local workers qualifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional RDAs - All industries | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||||
| Qualification level | Number | % | South Australia | Number | % | South Australia | 2016 - 2021 | ||
| Bachelor or Higher degree | 35,582 | 18.4 | 30.6 | 28,118 | 15.8 | 25.9 | +7,464 | ||
| Advanced Diploma or Diploma | 17,922 | 9.2 | 10.3 | 16,555 | 9.3 | 10.6 | +1,367 | ||
| Certificate I and II Level | 3,953 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 3,598 | 2.0 | 1.5 | +355 | ||
| Certificate III & IV Level | 52,042 | 26.9 | 21.6 | 44,354 | 24.9 | 21.4 | +7,688 | ||
| Certificate Level, nfd | 3,765 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 4,482 | 2.5 | 2.2 | -717 | ||
| No qualification | 75,617 | 39.0 | 32.2 | 75,024 | 42.1 | 35.8 | +593 | ||
| Inadequately described or not stated | 4,878 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 5,908 | 3.3 | 2.7 | -1,030 | ||
| Total Persons | 193,759 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 178,039 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +15,720 | ||
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 Regional RDAs in 2021 compared to South Australia 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, 58.5% of the workers who held educational qualifications, and 39.0% had no qualifications, compared with 65.8% and 32.2% respectively for South Australia.
The major differences between the qualifications held by the workforce of Regional RDAs and South Australia were:
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Bachelor or Higher degree (18.4% compared to 30.6%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with No qualification (39.0% compared to 32.2%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Certificate III & IV Level (26.9% compared to 21.6%)
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Advanced Diploma or Diploma (9.2% compared to 10.3%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the qualifications held by the workforce in Regional RDAs between 2016 and 2021 were:
- Certificate III & IV Level (+7,688 local workers)
- Bachelor or Higher degree (+7,464 local workers)
- Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+1,367 local workers)
- Certificate Level, nfd (-717 local workers)