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The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) program studies the progress of several groups of young Australians as they move from school into post-secondary education and work. This series of documents provides supporting information for the LSAY dataset of the 2009 cohort at wave 2 (2010). It includes the questionnaire and frequency counts. Show less

The 2003 Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET) conference was held in Brisbane in August 2003. This paper begins with the premise that the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) collects a vast amount of data about the public vocational education and training (VET) sector. Some, but not enough, data are collected about the private sector and this paper aims to remedy the situation. The paper describes the various NCVER statistical collections that contain data on VET, what they cover and what they do not cover, with some data from each collection providing context. The nest section identifies the gaps and makes a case for expanding the collections. A range of principles that the author argues should govern any expansion of the NCVER collections is given followed by a range of options governed by the principles. Finally, consultations having begun with a wide range of stakeholders as part of a major push toward total VET collections, the author outlines two areas that NCVER is pursuing immediately: (1) publication of data on private provision that is supplied to NCVER but is considered ‘out of scope’; and (2) data on publicly funded VET which does not appear in the NCVER collection because it is funded by government departments other than the training authorities, notably training to prison inmates, police and defence personnel and health workers. Show less

This paper provides a broad overview of the nature of data linkage, highlights possible uses in the VET sector and reviews key challenges data linkage presents as a research methodology. Using the insights gained from past data linkage projects and taking into account the privacy and ethical concerns, a set of principles for data linkage are presented. These provide researchers with a set of basic steps to draw on when embarking upon a data linkage project. Finally, future directions for data linkage in VET research are explored.

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This paper addresses the question of whether administrative data sources, such as performance monitoring data, can be used for program evaluation purposes. It argues that under certain circumstances, such data can be used. In particular, program performance data that are routinely gathered and monitored by administrators of many workforce development programs meet these circumstances. The paper goes on to demonstrate the point by using administrative data from the state of Washington to examine the net impact on earnings and employment of services provided to adults under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Because of a lack of consensus about appropriate net impact estimators, the strategy of this paper is to examine the sensitivity of the results to various estimation techniques. The paper describes the various estimation techniques, and it summarises the net impact estimates that are generated for the State of Washington. For the most part, the results are fairly stable across the techniques, which the paper argues adds a degree of confidence in them. The final section of the paper offers guidance to policymakers and program administrators who may not be familiar with the technical details of various analytical approaches about how empirical results that may appear to be complex or unstable can be used for program improvement. Show less

Decisions about learning and work have to be placed in a particular spatial, labour market and socio-cultural context - individuals are taking decisions within particular 'opportunity structures' and their decisions and aspirations are further framed by their understanding of such structures. This article examines ways in which learning about careers using open data and labour market intelligence can be applied. An illustrative case study of the LMI for All project in the UK shows the technical feasibility of designing and developing such systems and a model for dissemination and impact. The movement towards Open Data and increasingly powerful applications for processing and querying data has gathered momentum. This combined with the need for labour market information for decision making in increasingly unstable labour markets have led to the development and piloting of new Labour Market Information (LMI) systems, involving multiple user groups. Universal challenges exist given the increasing use of LMI, especially in job matching and the rapidly expanding use of open source data in differing education and employment settings. We highlight six emergent issues that have to be addressed so that open data and labour market intelligence can be applied effectively in differing contexts and settings. We conclude by reflecting on the urgent need to extend the body of research and to develop new methods of co-constructing in innovative collaborative partnerships.

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The use of surveys to gather data is only worthwhile if the results can be used to give valid information about the population being sampled. Whether this is true or not depends to a large extent on the samples taken. This article examines a practical approach to determine an appropriate sample size. Show less

The Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard (AVETMISS) offers a nationally consistent standard for the collection and analysis of vocational education and training (VET) information throughout Australia. The standard has been developed through the National Management Information and Statistics System (NATMISS) project and encompasses the national reporting requirements of information related to students, curriculum and training organisations. The standard incorporates: the AVETMISS documentation set; the AVETMISS software systems; and the AVETMISS software register. The purpose of this document, release 1.1 of the third in a set of five volumes, is to advise VET organisations of the national statistical reporting arrangements under AVETMISS and of the format and structure of the data to be transferred to the Managing Agent. It includes the following information related to the national data collection from training organisations involved in the VET sector: details of data to be collected; the format and structure of the data collection files; and a supporting data dictionary for the collection. Show less

Since 1992 State and Territory vocational education and training (VET) authorities have provided financial information related to publicly funded VET. This standard is part of the Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard (AVETMISS). It offers a nationally consistent standard for the collection, reporting and analysis of publicly funded VET information throughout Australia, detailing the financial statements and definitions, the collection guidelines, and the collection arrangements. Show less

This publication provides a synopsis of the vocational education and training (VET) system, and its related data collections, surveys, information systems and resultant statistical reports. A summary of the Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information System Standards (AVETMISS) and references to other AVETMISS documents, which underpin the collection of VET data, are included. Originally published in May 2007, this document was updated and reissued in August 2008, July 2011, May 2014, and March 2016.

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Labour market information (LMI) plays a crucial role in the promotion of responsive career pathways by enabling individuals and career development practitioners to make data-driven decisions about career paths. However, the current state of LMI from traditional sources is inadequate for promoting responsive career pathways. Opportunities exist in the future skills ecosystem, but more work needs to be done to understand the needs and preferences of Canadian individuals, career practitioners and employers to determine how to best present LMI to different stakeholders and ensure individuals have the right skills to use it. As part of the Future Skills Centre's (FSC) Responsive Career Pathways initiative, this paper reviews the current landscape of LMI in Canada and analyzes challenges in the use of LMI by key stakeholders. Our analysis is based on a review of recent research and commentary on LMI, conversations with experts, and input from our Responsive Career Pathways roundtables. The paper concludes with opportunities for how to make better use of LMI in support of responsive career pathways and strengthened career and employment systems.

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