Are We Sustaining Australia? Report Against Headline Sustainabilty Indicators

Environment Australia, 2002
ISBN 0 642 54771 8

Value 14: Educational and Economic Equity

Rationale for inclusion of issue

Educational disadvantage is traditionally associated with economic disadvantage. An indication of decoupling of educational and economic disadvantage could be indicative of increasing educational or economic equity, or both.

Indicator 16

Percentage difference in the year 12 completion rate between bottom and top socio-economic decile in 1999

16%

Source: Adapted from ABS Catalogue No 6278.0, Education, Training and Experience

Rationale for selection of indicator

A reduction in the difference between the year 12 completion rates of the highest and lowest economic decile would be indicative of a decoupling of economic and educational disadvantage.

Explanatory and elaborative information

There is a 16% difference between the year 12 completion rates of the highest and lowest socioeconomic decile. Time series data against this indicator show that the difference has declined from 19% in 1994. However, whereas for girls the gap has narrowed from 19% to 15%, for boys it has actually widened from 19% to 20%. Notably, the completion rate for the entire population has declined by one percentage point over the period, dropping by 2% for boys to 61% and remaining stable for girls at 74%.

Year 12 estimated completion rate (per cent), by socioeconomic status and gender - time series data

Socioeconomic status
	Low deciles			High deciles			Total
	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
1994	55	66	60	74	85	79	63	74	68
1995	53	65	59	73	83	78	61	73	67
1996^a	50	62	56	71	82	76	59	71	65
1996^b	52	67	59	72	80	76	60	72	65
1997^c	51	66	58	71	80	75	58	71	64
1998^d	53	67	60	72	81	76	60	72	66
1999	53	68	61	73	83	77	61	74	67

^a Calculated using socioeconomic status deciles derived from the 1991 Census. ^b Calculated using socioeconomic status deciles derived from the 1996 Census.
^c Revised data. ^d Final data.

Source: DETYA (unpublished).

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