Australia's population will reach a "projected" twenty three million today, Tuesday 23rd April 2013. 22,999,515 Those working in regional development, government and community understand the strategic challenges and opportunities changes in population and demographics brings. On a personal note, we contributed to this total exactly sixteen years ago today!! [Grin] Notes: This projection is based on the estimated resident population…
Tag Archives Australia
A recent tweet from the NTEU ACT Division (@NTEUACT) Australia has 2nd highest level of insecure work in OECD - after Spain. We know that we are approaching 40% of the workforce undertaking insecure work. *Source: Lives on Hold - Unlocking the potential of Australia's workforce. We also hear much about "skills shortages" and the need for "flexibility", yet the…
Those in Australia interested in the debate about education, equity and long-term social mobility within societies would benefit from reviewing the latest from the Sutton Trust. It is interesting to place the work of the Gonksi Review in the context of this discussion. My thoughts on Gonski can also be found here. A very soggy Gonski [as predicted] Current [and somewhat…
Yes, a lame play on words, but still, the Gonski report - [Australian Government review of Funding for Schooling] could be considered a new "Aussie Pizza". Lot's of toppings, everyone has their own unique version, everyone would recognise one if they saw it, but no-one is sure that they can agree on what the "real" aussie pizza is. Of course,…
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has put together another engaging interactive that personalises the 2006 Australian Census data for the user in an interesting and very visual way. [The 2011 Census in Australia was just completed in August ] The site is called "Spotlight" and takes some of the data from the last Census [2006] and shows just a few…
5.8% unemployment. Once again, the labour market data in Australia shows a remarkably robust labour market, with seasonally adjusted unemployment stable in July at 5.8%. ANZ CEO Mike Smith last night stated that he saw unemployment here stabilising at 6%, which would be remarkable. The problem is that that would require a fair pick up in the economy in the…
Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, Michael Wesley, gave a short presentation in Melbourne, with the broad theme being that coming years are likely to see Australia facing the most challenging global environment in our history. Read on at CoreEcon.. Australia's next great challenge?.
Do Teachers Matter?. A psychology study hit the headlines last Friday under the banner ‘Teacher quality makes little difference, study shows’. AN AUSTRALIAN study has cast doubt over the “teacher effect”, by suggesting differences between teachers play only a minor role in how well a child will learn. The global study, led by the University of New England, monitored 500 pairs…
The Practical Trade off Between Class Size and Teacher Quality. My AFR oped today is on class size and teacher quality. Full text over the fold (with hyperlinks for anyone who wants more detail on the research). In a Class of Their Own, Australian Financial Review, 14 July 2009 Few education policies are more popular than class size reductions. Alongside…