| Literacy (age 15 and over can read & write) (2003 est.) |
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% |
| School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) (2008) |
total: 21 years male: 20 years female: 21 years |
| Years compulsory | to age 16 in all states and territories except New South Wales and the Northern Territory where it is 15, and Western Australia where it is 17. (starting at age 5) |
| Primary to secondary transition rate (UIS estimation 2002) | 100% |
| Female Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) - Tertiary Education as a % for School year ending 2008 | 87% |
| Male Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) - Tertiary Education as a % for School year ending 2008 | 67% |
| Education expenditure |
4.9% of GDP (2008) 14% of total government expenditure (2006) |
| Distribution(%) of public expenditure per level (2010) |
pre-primary 1% primary 34% secondary 41% tertiary 24% unknown 1% |
| Researchers per 1,000,000 inhabitants (FTE) (2006) | 4 224 |
| Expenditure on R&D as a % of GDP (2006) | 2.06% |
| Percentage distribution of gross domestic expenditure on research and development by source |
Business 58.3% Government 37.3% From abroad 2.4% Private non-profit 1.8% Higher Education 0.1% |