- Minister for Education
University graduates with vocationally-focused degrees have the best employment outcomes immediately upon graduation.
Pharmacy (95.7 per cent), Rehabilitation (92.4 per cent), Medicine (91.1 per cent) and Dentistry (86.2 per cent) had the highest rates of full-time employment on graduation in 2019.
The 2019 Graduate Outcomes Survey released today found:
- The full-time graduate employment rate was 72.2 per cent.
- Regional universities had the highest rates of full-time employment: Charles Sturt University (86 per cent), Charles Darwin University (82 per cent) and James Cook University (80 per cent).
The good news is that within three years of graduating, more than nine out of ten university graduates are in full-time jobs, with an average salary of $72,800, according to the 2019 Graduate Outcomes Survey – Longitudinal report released earlier this month.
ABS data shows graduates are always better off in the labour market. In May 2019 the graduate unemployment rate was 3.3 per cent, well below the national average of 5.3 per cent.
Minister for Education Dan Tehan said the Morrison Government had made graduate employment outcomes the primary metric of its performance-based funding model for universities.
"We want universities to strengthen their focus on producing job-ready graduates with the skills to succeed in the modern economy," Mr Tehan said.
"The productivity gains from improving graduate employment outcomes and lifting completion rates are worth an estimated $3.1 billion a year by 2030.
"Further improving the job readiness of university graduates will help the Morrison Government achieve its goal of creating another 1.25 million jobs over the next five years, including 250,000 new jobs for young Australians."
The Graduate Outcomes Survey was an online survey completed by 132,176 graduates across 109 higher education institutions.