National Report on Schooling in Australia 2009
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education
The proportion of children of compulsory school age who are enrolled in school is a basic measure of the reach and coverage of Australian schooling. It is specified as a performance indicator for schooling in the National Education Agreement and is a new Key Performance Measure (KPM) in the Measurement Framework for Schooling in Australia.
This measure, specified as the number of students aged six to 15 years enrolled in school, expressed as a proportion of the six to 15-year-old population, is reported in Table 7.1.
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Key Performance Measure 7 (a)
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Table 7.1 Number and proportion of children aged 6 to 15 years enrolled in school(a)(b) by Indigenous status(c), 2008 and 2009
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Unit
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Australia
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Indigenous children
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2008
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2009
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Total 6 to15-year-old population
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no.
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130,061
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129,733
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Number of children aged 6 to 15 years enrolled in school
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no.
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126,934
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129,953
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Proportion of 6 to 15-year-old population enrolled in school
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%
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97.6
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100.2
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Non-Indigenous children
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|
|
|
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Total 6 to 15-year-old population
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no.
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2,644,873
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2,653,266
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Number of children aged 6 to 15 years enrolled in school
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no.
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2,612,271
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2,618,783
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Proportion of 6 to 15-year-old population enrolled in school
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%
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98.8
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98.7
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All children
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|
|
|
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Total 6 to 15-year-old population
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no.
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2,774,934
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2,782,999
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Number of children aged 6 to 15 years enrolled in school
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no.
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2,739,205
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2,748,736
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Proportion of 6 to 15-year-old population enrolled in school
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%
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98.7
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98.8
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(a) There are several factors influencing the reason why the proportion of students relative to the population can exceed 100%. These factors may include cross-border enrolments and migration (interstate/international). In particular for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, analysis has shown this population has a higher dual-enrolment occurrence across multiple schools, government and non-government sectors and jurisdictions, which would impact on the percentages represented. Data includes children enrolled full-time or part-time. Jervis Bay enrolments are included with ACT; Norfolk Island enrolments are included with NSW. 'Other territory' enrolments are excluded.
(b) Estimates for the total population are sourced from the most recently available ABS, Cat. No. 3201.0, Population by Age and Sex, 30 June 2010. The Australia total includes 'other territories' including Jervis Bay and Norfolk Island. However, Jervis Bay and Norfolk Island are excluded from ACT and NSW totals. Therefore, state and territory Estimated Resident Population numbers will not add to Australia totals.
(c) Non-Indigenous estimates are available for census years only. In the intervening years, Indigenous population figures are derived from assumptions about past and future levels of fertility, mortality and migration. In the absence of non-Indigenous population figures for these years, it is possible to derive denominators for calculating non-Indigenous rates by subtracting the Indigenous population from the total population. Such figures have a degree of uncertainty and should be used with caution, particularly as the time from the base year of the projection series increases. Information on non-sampling error that may affect the population data is available from the Population by Age and Sex, Australian States and Territories, June 2010, Quality Declaration Summary (ABS Cat. No. 3201.0). There is also some variability in the reporting of Indigenous status across jurisdictional education providers, particularly in relation to ‘not stated’ responses. This may result in some under-reporting of Indigenous status; see Appendix 2: Collection of Indigenous Status of Students, Cat. No. 4221.0, 2009.
Sources: ABS, Cat. No. 4221.0, Schools, Australia, 2010; ABS, Cat. No. 3201.0, Population by Age and Sex, Australian States and Territories, June 2010; ABS, Cat. No. 3238.0, Experimental Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians 1991–2021.
Table 7.2 Number and proportion of Indigenous students (full-time plus part-time) enrolled in schools by school level and
sector(a)(b)(c)(d), 2009
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Sector
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Government
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Catholic
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Independent
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Total
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|
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No.
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%
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No.
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%
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No.
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%
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No.
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%
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Primary
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86,888
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88.1
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8,330
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8.4
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3,392
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3.4
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98,610
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62.9
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Junior secondary
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36,404
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82.3
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4,403
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10.0
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3,437
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7.8
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44,244
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28.2
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Senior secondary
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11,034
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79.8
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1,537
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11.1
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1,261
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9.1
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13,832
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8.8
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Total secondary
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47,438
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81.7
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5,940
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10.2
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4,698
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8.1
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58,076
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37.1
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Total
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134,326
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85.7
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14,270
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9.1
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8,090
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5.2
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156,686
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100.0
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Data are based on the (non-finance) National Schools Statistics Collection (NSSC), which is a joint undertaking of the various State and Territory departments of education, the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA). All data are as at August 2010.
(a) Students attending special schools are allocated to either primary or secondary education on the basis of grade level where identified. Where schools identify students as receiving primary or secondary level of education, students are thus assigned. Students with a grade level not identified are allocated to primary or secondary level of education according to the typical age level in each State or Territory.
(b) Primary education comprises a pre-Year 1 grade followed by Years 1 to 6 in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. In Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, primary education comprises a pre-Year 1 grade followed by Years 1 to 7.
(c) Junior secondary is the years from commencement of secondary school to Year 10, including ungraded secondary.
(d) Senior secondary includes Years 11 and 12.
Source: ABS, Cat. No. 4221.0, Schools, Australia, 2010
Additional Statistics Table 50 reports full-time and part-time enrolments by Indigenous status in 2009 by State and Territory as well as by school sector and level.
In 2009, more than four-fifths (86%) of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students were enrolled in government schools, almost one-tenth (9%) of students were enrolled in Catholic schools and the remainder (5%) attended independent schools.
Figure 7.1 Proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students (full-time plus part-time) enrolled by school sector,
Australia, 2009
At approximately 65 and 58 per cent respectively, the proportions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary school students enrolled in government and Catholic schools in 2009 were higher than those of secondary students. For independent schools, however, the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students was higher for secondary students (58%).
Figure 7.2 Number of Indigenous students enrolled by school level and sector, Australia, 2009
Figure 7.3 Enrolment by sector and Indigenous status, Australia, 2009
Table 7.3 Number and full-time equivalent (FTE) of part-time Indigenous students, by level of education(d) , Australia, 2005–2009(e)
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Primary(a)
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Junior secondary(b)
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Senior secondary(c)
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Total secondary
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Total
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No.
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FTE
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No.
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FTE
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No.
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FTE
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No.
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FTE
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No.
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FTE
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Total 2009
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358
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155.9
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196
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108.5
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599
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321.4
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795
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429.9
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1,153
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585.8
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Total 2008
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277
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108.1
|
198
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90.4
|
465
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253.7
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663
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344.1
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940
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452.2
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Total 2007
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210
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76.9
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417
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183.6
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604
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306.3
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1,021
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489.9
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1,231
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566.8
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Total 2006
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91
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41.7
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478
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216.3
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737
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340.8
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1,215
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557.1
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1,306
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598.8
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Total 2005
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96
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42.0
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389
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188.2
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673
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338.1
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1,062
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526.3
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1,158
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568.3
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(a) Primary education comprises a pre-Year 1 grade followed by Years 1 to 6 in NSW, Vic., Tas., NT and ACT. In Qld, SA and WA, primary education comprises a pre-Year 1 grade followed by Years 1 to 7.
(b) Junior secondary is the years from commencement of secondary school to Year 10, including ungraded secondary.
(c) Senior secondary includes Years 11 and 12.
(d) Students attending special schools are allocated to either primary or secondary education on the basis of grade level where identified. Where schools identify students as receiving primary or secondary level of education, students are thus assigned. Students with a grade level not identified are allocated to primary or secondary level of education according to the typical age level in each State or Territory.
(e) Issues that may affect comparability over time can be found in Explanatory Notes of the source publication.
Source: ABS, Cat. No. 4221.0, Schools, Australia, 2010
Table 7.4 Number of Indigenous students (full-time and part-time enrolled) by sector, Australia, 2005–2009
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Government
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Catholic
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Independent
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Total
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2005
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118,576
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11,444
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6,235
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136,255
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2006
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122,872
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12,074
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6,749
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141,695
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2007
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128,471
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12,951
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6,990
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148,412
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2008
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131,428
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13,536
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7,644
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152,608
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2009
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134,326
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14,270
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8,090
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156,686
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Data are based on the National Schools Statistics Collection (NSSC), which is a joint undertaking of the various State and Territory departments of education, the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA). All data are as at August 2010 and may differ from those in previous publications.
Issues that may affect comparability over time can be found in the Explanatory Notes of the source publication.
Source: ABS, Cat. No. 4221.0, Schools, Australia, 2010
Figure 7.4 Number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students enrolled by school sector, Australia, 2005–2009