Postscript: Australian Educational Futures After the 2013 Federal Election

Abstract

The policies of the incoming Australian Government, formerly the Coalition Opposition, are compared with those of the outgoing Labor Government. Attention is paid especially to school and early childhood policies, the two areas where there is most difference between the previous Labor government and the new Coalition government. Two major reports issued in the second half of 2013 are summarised and their implications for government policies reviewed. The Human Development Report 2013 emphasises a very important role for government in promoting equitable access to development; the Coalition government is committed to ‘small government’. The OECD survey of adult literacy and numeracy emphasises once again the relationship between social and economic inequality, levels of educational achievement and prosperity: whilst Australians rank reasonably high amongst OECD nations, adults and younger people from England and most especially the US rank at or near the bottom.