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Data definitions and limitations:
Median income is defined using employee income declared to the ATO or Centrelink in 2020-21 financial year, after completing a VET qualification in 2019-20. Graduates without an income do not contribute to the median income or median income uplift calculation.
It is important to note that this definition captures income earned as an employee in any occupation, full time or part time. This definition does not capture income from self-employment and business income.
Median income uplift is calculated as the median of the individual differences in income earned in the financial year prior to enrolment and the financial year after qualification completion (2020-21). To enable comparison, all income figures have been inflation adjusted to 2020-21.
Improved income after training
There was a median uplift in employee annual income across all cohorts at the national level. The median income uplift is only calculated for graduates who were employed both prior to enrolment and in the year following completion. Nationally, the median income uplift was $11,800 and the median annual employee income was $48,500 in 2020-21.
Median incomes and income uplifts were examined for a range of different student characteristics, as detailed below. Outcomes varied considerably for different cohorts. The cohorts with the largest median uplift in income following VET completion were:
- Apprentices and trainees (median income uplift of $25,800)
- Graduate Diploma/Certificate completers (median income uplift of $23,700)
- Graduates under the age of 25
- Median income uplift of $22,200, for those aged under 20 years
- Median income uplift of $22,400, for those aged 20-24 years.
Median income by age group
Figure 1.1 shows that graduates in the younger age groups had the largest median uplift in income after completion, of more than $22,000 for the two groups aged under 25. Despite having a similar income uplift, graduates aged 20-24 had a substantially higher median income post completion than graduates aged under 20 ($46,300 compared to $24,900), reflecting likely higher rates of part-time and casual employment in the younger age group.
The uplift in income diminishes with age, however, older age groups had higher incomes post completion (graduates aged 35 and over had median incomes of approximately $58,000). Larger income uplifts are expected in younger cohorts who are often moving from part-time to full-time employment, while older cohorts generally have more work experience, reflected in their higher median incomes post completion.
Source: Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA), 2002 – 2022, VET National Data Asset, ABS DataLab. Findings based on use of PLIDA data.
Median income by AQF Level
Figure 1.2 shows that higher Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) levels are generally associated with higher median incomes, and Graduate Diploma/Certificate completers have the highest median income at $81,700. The exception to this trend is Certificate IV graduates, who have a higher median income than Diploma and Advanced Diploma graduates. This may be partly explained by the higher median age of this cohort (35 years compared to 31 years for Diploma graduates).
Source: Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA), 2002 – 2022, VET National Data Asset, ABS DataLab. Findings based on use of PLIDA data.
Median income for priority cohorts
Figure 1.3 shows the median income and income uplift for priority cohorts (i.e. females, First Nations, and graduates with disability). All priority cohorts received a median uplift in their income following completion. Males had a higher median income uplift than females ($12,400 and $11,400 respectively) and a higher median income after completion ($58,300 compared to $41,900). This result may in part be due to the difference in the number of hours worked by males and females, as reflected in labour force statistics.
Source: Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA), 2002 – 2022, VET National Data Asset, ABS DataLab. Findings based on use of PLIDA data.
First Nations graduates had a higher median uplift in income than non-Indigenous graduates ($13,000 and $11,800 respectively), thus helping to reduce the gap between First Nations and non-Indigenous median incomes. The median income of First Nations graduates was $43,100 after completion, approximately 12 per cent lower than non-Indigenous graduates ($48,700).
This income disparity may in part be explained by the higher proportion of First Nations graduates in lower AQF qualifications, which are associated with lower incomes post completion.
Graduates with disability (7% of total graduates) also had an income uplift ($9,100). However, it was 24% lower than graduates without disability ($12,000). The median income of graduates with disability was also substantially lower than graduates without disability ($26,100 and $49,800 respectively).
Median income by location
Figure 1.4 shows the difference in median income by graduates’ residential location. Regional and remote graduates had a higher median income uplift than graduates in major cities ($12,900 and $12,700 respectively, compared to $11,500 for graduates in major cities). Regional and remote graduates also had higher median incomes after completion than graduates in major cities ($50,300 and $62,100 respectively, compared to $47,100 for graduates in major cities). This result may in part be explained by higher rates of apprentices and trainees in regional and remote areas, where approximately 20% of completers were apprentices, in comparison to only 13% in major cities.
Source: Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA), 2002 – 2022, VET National Data Asset, ABS DataLab. Findings based on use of PLIDA data.
Median income by select student characteristics
As figure 1.5 shows, the median uplift in income for apprentices and trainees is more than double the median uplift for non-apprentices and trainees ($25,800 and $9,400 respectively). The median income of apprentices and trainees is also higher than non-apprentices and trainees ($55,000 and $46,300 respectively). This disparity may be linked to the substantially longer duration of apprenticeships and traineeships, which had a median completion time of 649 days compared to 222 days for non-apprenticeships. It is also important to note that not all qualifications are available through both pathways.
Figure 1.5 also shows that the median income of graduates who were employed prior to enrolling in their VET qualification, was more than double that of graduates who only gained employment after completion ($54,900 and $26,600 respectively). The strong impact of prior employment on median income is important to consider when examining outcomes by course level. Some qualifications, particularly at the lower AQF levels, have high rates of graduates with no prior employment and, as such, tend to have lower median incomes post completion.
Graduates who had not completed year 12 or a Certificate III or higher qualification previously, had a lower median income uplift ($10,900) and lower median income post completion ($39,700) than graduates who had these qualifications ($12,100 uplift and $51,200 median income).
Source: Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA), 2002 – 2022, VET National Data Asset, ABS DataLab. Findings based on use of PLIDA data.
*The ‘not employed prior’ group doesn’t have ‘median income change’ data because there is no prior income to compare change to. Only individuals with an income both prior to enrolment and post completion contribute to the ‘median income change’ calculation.
