The School to Work Transition: Young Cambodians in South Australia

Abstract

The paper examines the transition from school to work made by a group of young Cambodians who arrived in South Australia as refugees during the early 1980s, and addresses the question of the extent to which adolescent refugees are included within the educational and occupational spheres of Australian society. The evidence from school retention and accreditation and participation in post-school training all suggest that this sample of Cambodian youth were not systematically disadvantaged within the South Australian education system. The group were also successful in entering the labour force, but were generally concentrated in lower echelon positions, despite their academic attainment.