In March 2023 The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) released their report titled “Student equity in VET 2021: participation, achievement and outcomes“.

The report shines a light on the experiences of historically disadvantaged groups in Australia’s Vocational Education and Training (VET) system.

Here, we’ll focus on two key groups highlighted in the report: people with a disability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Infographic

You can access NCVER’s infographic on this data here.

People with a Disability in VET

According to the report, in 2021, 181,320 people with a disability participated in VET. This group was fairly evenly split between females (52%) and males (47%). Most of these students (64%) were aged under 40 years, with the remaining 36% aged 40 years and over.

When compared to their peers without a disability, a higher percentage of students with a disability received government funding (52% vs 31%). They also showed a preference for private training providers (58%) over TAFE institutes (33%) and community education providers (10%).

While the qualification completion rate for people with a disability was slightly lower (40%) than for those without (46%), satisfaction with the overall quality of training was high for both groups (87% and 89%, respectively).

As for the impact of training on employment status, 50% of people with a disability who completed a qualification in 2021 reported improved employment status after training, compared to 67% of people without a disability.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in VET

The report revealed that 155,735 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people participated in VET in 2021, with a relatively even gender split: 50% female and 49% male. Most of these students (76%) were aged under 40 years, and 24% were aged 40 years and over.

When compared to non-Indigenous people, the age distribution of Indigenous VET students was slightly more skewed towards younger participants (66% of non-Indigenous students were aged under 40 years, and 34% were aged 40 years and over).

The report also provided insight into the intersection of Indigenous status with other characteristics, such as disability, non-English-speaking background, socio-economic status, remoteness, and employment status. Among Indigenous VET students, 9% had a disability, 4% came from a non-English-speaking background, 33% were from a low socio-economic background, 12% were from remote areas, and 32% were not employed.

Data Limitations

The NCVER report includes instances of “not known” response rates for specific student characteristics. For more detailed information, refer to the “Student equity in VET 2021: participation, achievement and outcomes: data tables” resource. Additionally, it’s important to note that some students may have enrolled in multiple types of training, with different providers and funding sources, leading to percentages that may sum to more than 100.