In Australia, education starts in the years before formal schooling, with many child care services and preschools receiving government funding.
School students (Oliver Strewe, Tourism Australia)
Did you know?
Australia's secondary school enrolment rate is the highest in the world.
Australian students participate in formal school education from the age of five or six to around 18, with many going on to tertiary education. The public and private education sectors are working together to close the gap on Indigenous disadvantage and improve outcomes in Indigenous education.
Australia's vocational education and training system provides students with the skills required in a modern labour market, and delivers competency-based training that is practical and career orientated. The Australian higher education system has both public and private universities. Some universities have campuses in other countries. There are Australian branches of overseas universities and other higher education providers as well.
Indigenous school children from the Ngukurr School in the Northern Territory droving community cattle (Newslines)
School of the Air
Australia is home to some of the most geographically isolated and remote communities in the world. School of the Air allows children in remote communities and living on isolated properties to 'attend' school via a computer. Various communication technologies are used to provide daily contact between students, home tutors (often parents) and teachers.
Stages of Australia's education system