Prolonged periods out of employment, education or training may harm the well-being of young people and lower their long-term economic prospects. The Australian Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE), now replaced by the Department of Education and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, was interested in learning about education and pre‑employment interventions targeting 12‑16 year-olds that could be applied in the Australian context to reduce the risk of young people becoming NEET (i.e. not in employment, education or training).

In 2021, about one in ten young people in Australia were not in employment, education or training (NEET), compared to an OECD average of around one in seven. This report explores how educational, pre‑employment and vocational interventions targeted at 12‑16 year‑olds might reduce the prevalence of the NEET status among older teenagers and young people in their early twenties. Among young people who are NEET, a higher share are unemployed rather than inactive, potentially making it easier to guide them to employment or education or training. Lower educational attainment, health problems and limitations, and Indigeneity are all associated with a higher likelihood of being NEET. These characteristics need to be considered when designing NEET prevention policies.

This chapter compares the share of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) in Australia with that in other OECD countries and describes their characteristics. It explains why understanding NEET trends and characteristics among older teens and young people in their early twenties is important for designing policies and programmes intervening preventatively among adolescents in their mid-teens, which is the focus of the report. Apart from 2020, the NEET rate in Australia has generally been below the OECD average in the recent past. As in many other countries, young people with lower educational attainments or health issues and those with a First Nations peoples’ background are over-represented among the NEET population.

This chapter discusses education policies and interventions that could reduce the rate of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) by preventing early school leaving and dropout as well as by promoting labour market integration through increased achievement and attainment. The first section provides an overview of existing policies to prevent early school leaving in Australia. The second section summarises direct prevention interventions including early warning systems, the provision of additional support for at-risk students, and curriculum interventions. The last section reviews indirect prevention interventions focusing on promoting a whole school approach, supporting transitions between educational levels, and inclusive teaching environments. The chapter concludes detailing policy lessons.

This chapter provides an overview of pre‑employment policies and interventions targeted at adolescent students. It discusses the potential impact of mid-teens participating in pre‑employment interventions (like career education, career counselling and guidance, and employer engagement activities) on the likelihood that they will later experience periods of being not in employment, education or training (NEET). For each of the pre‑employment policy areas, the chapter briefly outlines the availability of interventions in Australia, the existing empirical evidence on the link to NEET status, and illustrative examples from OECD countries.

This chapter discusses different interventions within vocational education and training (VET) that aim at helping young people who are at risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment, or training). In particular, the chapter presents examples of strategies in OECD countries that smoothen access to VET programmes, ensure successful programme completion through adequate support, and improve the effectiveness of VET teachers and trainers. In addition, the chapter looks at broader intervention areas to improve the awareness of VET pathways among students and their caretakers as well as the image they might have of VET and discusses how the industry can get more involved in VET development and provision. The last section of the chapter considers key policy lessons for Australia.

This chapter discusses the importance of monitoring and evaluation in guiding policy making. The chapter reviews four aspects that are considered crucial for the implementation of a rigorous Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system: data infrastructure, ethical oversight and data privacy considerations, data quality and dissemination. For each of these topics, the chapter provides examples of good practices in OECD countries and ends with some reflections about how Australia could strengthen its M&E system in the youth domain.