CEET 8 th Annual National Conference 29 October 2004 Ascot House Melbourne

1. CEET 8th Annual National Conference 29 October 2004 Ascot House Melbourne The current priorities: following the money trail Gerald Burke CEET www.education.monash.edu.au/centres/ceet

2. Background Australia • Fast growing high income economy • Exposed to global forces • A less equal society than northern Europe • High rate of immigration and of int’l students • Ageing – but more slowly than most rich countries

3. Education system • Growing private funding • High average rates of participation • High average quality • Good lifelong pathways for most people • Provision for less advantaged needs to improve • Trying to align education, training and economy

4. Government objectives • Education and training responsive to the economy • Encouraging achievement of disadvantaged • Encouraging older persons to stay at work • Making the education system more efficient • Increasing choice in education and training • Achieving these while containing public expenditure • Means some reallocation of public monies and changed organisation

5. Which priorities are being pursued • One way of seeing the relative importance given to a policy or an area of education is to look at the money spent on it

6. Distribution of spending

7. Changes in spending

8. Spending on Youth Allowance and Apprenticeships

9. Some good outcomes, some problems • Reallocation of public and increased private • More choice • Maybe more efficiency – concerns for quality • Needs of the economy – criticism and some shortages • Equity • little change in low income groups in universities • proportion of young people ‘at risk’ not much changed • expansion of private schools and the effects • initiatives for disadvantaged - but not a big share of funds • example of Indigenous people and social cohesion