Learning and Work Transitions for Young Australians

1
Learning and Work Transitions for Young
Australians

• NYC Co-ordinators National Workshop
• Melbourne
• December 2003

2
Australia's Youth Commitment

• Complete 12 years of worthwhile learning
• Participate effectively in the labour force
• This means
• First chance strategies
• Second chance strategies to re-engage early
  leavers
• Personal advice and support for every early
  school leaver
• Co-ordinated local community partnerships
• Labour market support for those outside education
  or training

3
Key Challenges

• An open labour market for young people
• Breakdown of the former school - work contract
• Capture of senior schooling by higher education
• Narrow measures of success and failure turf
  warfare
• Indigenous participation, completion and outcomes
• Low accountability thresholds
• Widening economic gap - disparity in
  opportunities
• Intergenerational family issues - lack of support
• Desire for youth autonomy and independence

4
Is this being achieved?

• 67 per cent school completion
• Low achievers often perceive school as a prison
• 80 achievement of 12 years of worthwhile
  learning
• 50,000 young Australians not achieving the
  benchmark
• 84 France, 88 Canada USA, 94 Japan Korea
• 44 indigenous retention rate (20 leave before
  Yr 10)
• 45 of indigenous 15-24 y.o. on Centrelink
  benefits
• 45 of indigenous teenagers 70 of indigenous
  young adults at risk - 3 times non-indigenous
  level

5
Full-time job growth. Teenagers young adults
not in education, and adults aged 25 years plus,
1995 - 2003
Source Labour Force, Australia.
6
Proportion of teenagers not in full-time
education or full-time work, May 1999-2003, per
cent
Source Labour Force, Teenage Employment and
Unemployment, Unemployment, Australia,
Preliminary - Data Report and Labour Force,
Australia
7
Full-time participation rates for 15 to 24 year
olds, 2001, per cent
Source Productivity Commission, 2003.
8
Proportion of teenagers not in full-time
education or full-time work, May 1989 to May 2003
9
Education and labour market destinations of
persons school leavers May 2002
Source Education and Work, Australia, cat. no.
6227.0, Special tabulation, ABS, May 2003.
10
Proportion of school leavers not in education
and in part-time work, unemployed or not in the
labour force five months after leaving school,
per cent
Source Derived from Transition from Education to
Work Australia and unpublished data.
11
Labour market status May 2002 of 2001 teenage
TAFE graduates and module completers, per cent
Source NCVER 2002 Student Outcomes Survey,
special tabulation.
12
Proportion of young adults not in full-time
education and in part-time work, or wanting
work, May 2003, per cent
Source Labour Force Australia, May 2003 and
Persons Not in the Labour Force, September 2002.
13
Ratio of the unemployment rate for 15 to 24 year
olds to rate for 25 to 54 year olds, rank order,
2002
Source Derived from Annual Labour Force
Statistics, OECD, 2002.
14
Proportion of young adults who have completed
Year 12 or have a post school qualification, 1994
to 2002
Source Transition from Education to Work
Australia and Education and Work Australia.
15
The Realising Report

• Produced by Applied Economics
• Extensive consultation during development
• Shows governments how they can deliver
• Costs a phased introduction of education,
  training and labour market places and support
• Evaluates financial benefits to individuals,
  employers and the rest of society
• Proposes an implementation mechanism

16
Costs a five year rollout

• Addresses 20 of early leavers each year
• Covers 135,000 youth
• 90 Year 12 or equivalent completion rate by 2010
• 2.3B over 5 yrs - 159M in 2004 to 765M in 2008
• Education and training places
• Apprenticeship incentives
• Transition workers
• Labour market places
• Shared costs - 60 Commonwealth, 40 states

17
Overall financial benefits

• Net benefits of 8.2B to 4.6B over 2004-2050
• Includes
• Higher labour market participation
• Reduced unemployment risks
• Higher incomes - 80 of the gap
• Increased productivity and returns to employers -
  15 of wages
• Social capital - impact on health, crime, social
  capacity - 20 of wages

18
A modern youth transition system

• Framework Agreement - Commonwealth states
• Recognition for good performance and investment
• Lead Ministers
• Office of Education to Employment Transition
• Annual report on progress to Parliament
• Independent evaluation and trials
• Shared learning
• Key role for transition support / case management

19
Key learning work transition principles

• Local delivery - school regional partnerships
• Active participation by young people
• Comprehensiveness - links with other transitions
• Policy program coherence co-ordination
• National policy leadership
• Strong research, monitoring quality control

20
Key transition program outcomes

• Completion rates
• VET participation
• Literacy numeracy outcomes
• Post school EET participation
• Re-entry to education training
• Student satisfaction
• Personal growth active citizenship
• Local national policy culture change

21
Transition workers

• School based support
• Exit planning negotiation
• Post- school support
• Post-school placement
• Results in
• Unknown destinations halved
• Unemployment halved
• Major boost in training participation

22
Key Whittlesea outcomes

• School based transition service
• 48 at school
• 38 in post-school VET or work
• 14 problematical outcomes
• Out of school transition service
• 74 in positive outcomes
• Overall positive outcomes increase from 25 to
  57 over 1999 -2002

23
Mentoring works - Plan It Youth

• Supports Year 9s and Year 10s
• 627 project
• Trained mentors 27 hours _at_ TAFE over 3 months
• Active Retired Mentors (ARM) co-ordination
• In Out of school, for up to 12 months
• 75 retention 4 in marginal LW activities
• NSW 253 students 400 mentors
• Average unit cost of 1400 per student