Post-VET outcomes

For information on the employment and further study outcomes of Indigenous VET students see Indigenous VET statistics.

Supporting Indigenous employment

A recent report by Giddy, Lopez and Redman (2009) highlights the factors leading to successful employment outcomes for Indigenous people. The research identified the essential and desirable criteria necessary to support successful outcomes for Indigenous employees. The essential criteria are:

• having strong vision and understanding the importance of monitoring targets
• responding to the employment market
• maintaining strong relationships with community and business
• offering ‘job related’ and culturally appropriate training
• collaborating with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and the community
• providing holistic support
• ensuring strong staff commitment.

VET as a pathway to higher education

Findings from a briefing paper (10) using Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) data show that, after completing school, Indigenous young people are still more likely to commence VET studies than attend university.

In a more recent paper (Nguyen (2009) forthcoming), this finding was again confirmed. More in-depth analysis was conducted using cohorts who were first interviewed in 1995 and 2003 to try to discover the effects of literacy and numeracy levels on Year 12 completion and participation in post-school education and training. Results from the analysis showed that, although there have been significant improvements in Indigenous outcomes over the past ten years, these improvements have also been achieved by non-Indigenous students, therefore leaving the gap unchanged.