Abstract
Abstract Data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey is used to estimate distributions for the level of educational attainment for Australian indigenous and nonindigenous populations for the years 2001, 2006, 2014 and 2017. Bayesian inference is used to analyse how these ordinal categorical distributions have changed over time and to compare indigenous and nonindigenous distributions. Both the level of educational attainment and inequality in educational attainment are considered. To compare changes in levels over time, as well as inequality between the two populations, first order stochastic dominance and an index of educational poverty are used. To examine changes in inequality over time, two inequality indices and generalised Lorenz dominance are considered. Results are presented in terms of posterior densities for the indices and posterior probabilities for dominance for the dominance comparisons. We find some evidence of improvement over time, especially in the lower parts of the indigenous distribution and that inequality has significantly increased from 2001 to 2017.
Highlights
Improving the general level of education and reducing inequality in education are worthy objectives of public policy
In 2014 and 2017, the median has moved to the Year 12 category. 4.2 Indigenous Level of Education To answer the question has the level of education for the indigenous population improved over time, we examine the first order stochastic dominance (FSD) probabilities for dominance for each pair of years, restricted FSD over the first two categories, and how the H index has changed over time
There has been a slight increase in the difference from 0.11 in 2001 to 0.15 in 2017. 4.4 Educational Inequality within the Indigenous Population In Section 4.2 we found evidence of improvement in the level of education in the indigenous population, in the lower part of the distribution
Summary
Improving the general level of education and reducing inequality in education are worthy objectives of public policy. To improve the level of welfare of its indigenous population (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders), and to reduce inequality between its indigenous and nonindigenous populations, the Australian government has introduced a program called “Closing the Gap” (www.closingthegap.gov.au). This program has 17 targets related to health, education, employment, culture and general well-being. Statistical methodology for assessing whether improvements in the level of education and reductions in educational inequality have been realised over the period 2001-2017 is introduced. This methodology is applied to data extracted from the Household and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey for the years 2001, 2006, 2014 and 2017.1
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