Three pie charts illustrate the percentage of Australian secondary school graduates who were unemployed, employed or further education from 1980 to 2000.
Overall, the employment rate was the most common outcome in Australian secondary schools, except 1980. Noticeably, there was an increase in the proportion of students employed, whereas that of unemployed and further education showed an opposite trend.
At the beginning of the period, 40% of students employed after graduating in Australia were recorded in 1980 – ranked second. After 10 years, there was a slight growth in this figure, by 10%, which overtook the data of further education to become the highest. In the last year, the figure continued its upward trend, albeit at a steady pace (55%).
Regarding the other two categories, in the first year, the percentage of graduates who had further education witnessed the highest figure, at 50%, compared to only 10% of those unemployed. In 1990, while the figure for unemployed saw a slight rise of 12%, that of further education experienced a noticeable decline (38%). Finally, both these categories had relatively similar pace, though further education’s data remained significantly higher than unemployed, with 37% and 8% respectively.