Building Skills for All in Australia

1. BUILDING SKILLS
FOR ALL IN
AUSTRALIA
Policy Insights from the Survey of Adult Skills
September 2017

2. Building Skills for All in Australia: Insights from the Survey of
Adult Skills :
 focuses on people of working age (16-65) who struggle with literacy, numeracy or
both.
 describes the characteristics of the low-skilled and discusses the consequences
that low skills have on economic and social development for both individuals and
Australian society.
 examines the strengths of the Australian skills system, highlighting the strong basic
skills found in the migrant population, widespread proficiency in use of ICT and
the positive role of workplaces in skills development.
 explores the challenges facing the skills system and asks what can be done to
enhance basic skills through education, training or other workplace measures.
 provides policy recommendations for how these challenges could be addressed.
What is the focus of the review?

3. Australia’s overall performance in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) ranges from average to very good. But,
three million adults, representing one-fifth of the working age population, have low literacy and/or numeracy
skills.
Figure 1. Share of adults with low basic skills
How does Australia perform on basic skills?
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Italy
Israel
Spain
Greece
France
Slovenia
United States
Ireland
Poland
Northern Ireland (UK)
England (UK)
Canada
OECD average
Germany
Australia
Lithuania
New Zealand
Korea
Denmark
Austria
Estonia
Sweden
Flanders (Belgium)
Czech Republic
Norway
Slovak Republic
Netherlands
Finland
Japan
both low numeracy and literacy
those with low numeracy but
literacy at or above level 2
those with low literacy but
numeracy at or above level 2
Source: OECD calculations based on the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) (2012, 2015)

4.  Many migrants are well educated and highly skilled
 Computer and ICT skills are strong
 Workplaces contribute to the development of basic
skills
What are the strengths of the Australian skills
system?

5.  Numeracy represents a particular challenge in Australia (see Figure 2).
 Signs of poor numeracy performance can be traced back to initial
schooling.
 Women have weaker numeracy skills than men.
 There is a relatively large gap between the most proficient and least
proficient adults in literacy and in numeracy.
 Many well-educated adults, in general, and many Australians with higher
level VET qualifications, in particular, have low literacy and/or numeracy
skills.
 Young women in Australia are much more likely to be not in employment,
education or training (NEET) than young men.
What are the challenges in the area of basic
skills?

6. Challenges in the area of basic skills
level 1 and below level 2 level 3 level 4 and 5
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Chile
Turkey
Greece
Italy
Israel
Spain
Slovenia
Northern Ireland (UK)
England (UK)
United States
Germany
France
Poland
Ireland
Canada
Denmark
Norway
New Zealand
Slovak Republic
Austria
Australia
Lithuania
Sweden
Estonia
Flanders (Belgium)
Czech Republic
Netherlands
Finland
Korea
Japan
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Chile
Turkey
Israel
Greece
United States
Italy
England (UK)
Spain
Northern Ireland (UK)
France
Ireland
New Zealand
Canada
Poland
Australia
Slovenia
Germany
Norway
Slovak Republic
Denmark
Austria
Lithuania
Sweden
Estonia
Netherlands
Korea
Czech Republic
Flanders (Belgium)
Finland
Japan
Numeracy
Note: Adults who obtained their highest qualification outside the host country, those with foreign qualifications and first generation migrants who obtained their
highest qualification prior to entering the host country, are excluded.
Source: OECD calculations based on OECD (2016b), Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) (Database 2012, 2015),
www.oecd.org/site/piaac/publicdataandanalysis.htm.
Literacy
Figure 2. In comparison to other countries Australia perform worse in numeracy (16-65 year olds)

7.  Strengthen the focus on mathematics throughout secondary education.
 Increase participation of women in STEM fields by breaking down gender
stereotypes and encouraging women to enter these fields.
 Identify students in post-secondary VET who are at risk of low basic skills and
provide targeted initiatives to support them.
 Ensure that literacy and numeracy skills are part of the quality criteria in post-
secondary VET.
 Encourage post-secondary VET providers to address weak literacy and numeracy
skills.
 Reach out to disconnected youth and prevent dropout from education.
 Use pre-apprenticeships to help NEETs re-enter education and training and to find
employment.
 Improve access to childcare facilities for young mothers in order to allow easier
access to education, training or work.
How to address basic skills challenges?

8. The Australian review is one of an OECD series of studies on low basic skills:
 The review of England highlighted the problem of higher education students with
such low literacy and numeracy levels that they are unlikely to benefit from their
university studies.
 In Finland, the review drew attention to the concentration of low skills among
older adults in the workforce, which may threaten the sustainability of their
current employment.
 In the United States, the review underlined the vital importance of improving
school performance, given that the basic skills of young Americans lag far behind
those of many other countries.
The studies are supported by a literature review on policy interventions aimed at
tackling low literacy and numeracy among adults.
Which other countries we are working with?

9. OECD (2017), Building Skills for All in Australia: Policy Insights from the Survey of
Adult Skills, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264281110-en
For more information:
www.oecd.org/education/vet
Anthony.Mann@oecd.org
@AnthonyMannOECD