The education revolution after the downturn

This paper examines the impact of the global economic downturn on education in Australia. The author suggests that there are two main changes in Australian education and training that have a direct relationship with the downturn. The first is a further decline in the full time youth and young adult labour markets. The second implication is that of the roles of the two levels of government in education. There has been a steady increase in the scope and intensity of Commonwealth participation in the three sectors of education and training. Two sets of impacts of the downturn are highlighted. One is the exacerbation of a longer term trend in the labour market and the consequential implications for education at what has been called the postcompulsory level. The other is linked to the confluence between enrolment trends and the trends in the roles of the two levels of government. Here the downturn has increased the momentum of the Commonwealth push in education. It is argued that both these impacts have implications that have not been fully thought through and there remains a degree of disconnectivity on Australian education policy. Show less