Growing the desert: regional and educational profiles of the Australian desert and its Indigenous peoples: stage 1 report

This report examines data and issues related to vocational education and training (VET) and adult and community education (ACE) in the desert region of Australia, focusing particularly on Indigenous peoples. The report makes up the first stage of a three stage project, and aims to: build a picture of the desert region that can inform effective education and training pathways for Indigenous peoples; develop an understanding of five separate jurisdictional approaches to Indigenous education; and identify the unique issues, barriers and opportunities in relation to educational engagement and outcomes. Aspects of VET and ACE delivery across the region are considered in regard to participation, qualifications, and the match of skills to relevant industry. Preliminary conclusions indicate that: access to education services across the desert is relatively poor, particularly at secondary and senior secondary levels; the main employment opportunity for desert Indigenous peoples is the Community Development Employment Program (CDEP); participation rates in VET are high, but do not equate with certificate completions, with only four per cent of desert Indigenous peoples holding a certificate qualification; higher education participation is extremely low for desert Indigenous peoples; and the nature of the engagement of desert Indigenous peoples in VET reflects ACE type courses and learning programs more than vocationally oriented courses.

The collected proceedings are indexed at TD/TNC 82.500; the collected PowerPoint presentations are indexed at TD/TNC 82.501; available papers are indexed from TD/TNC 82.502 to TD/TNC 82.528. Show less