Australia failing to make progress on literacy and numeracy despite investment, reports finds

Australia is failing to make progress on literacy and numeracy levels despite more investment in schools, while graduate employment rates have fallen, a new report from the Productivity Commission has found.

The report said skill requirements will grow in future decades, with more than nine out of 10 jobs created in the next five years requiring a post-school education, and three out of five new jobs expected to be high-skilled.

But amid the growing demand for a better trained workforce, the report pointed to falling employment rates for university and VET graduates over the past decade, and growing levels of employer dissatisfaction with the quality of VET graduates.