Education in Australia

This chapter provides an overview of the Australian education system: enrolments, funding and institutions in schools, technical and further education (TAFE), and higher education. It also looks at the changing relationship between education and the labour markets, the politics of education, and the different and conflicting roles performed by education – custodial, academic, democratic, economic and selective. It is ironic that although education is no longer an automatic passport to a job, the connection between education and the economy dominates government education policies.