Early childhood education, school, TAFE, university, lifelong learning, digital and financial literacy.

Why it matters: Learning is the lever for productivity and mobility, and where most public money on under-25s is spent. Outcomes have plateaued. Teacher shortage is the headline. ECEC deserts in regional Australia gate parental work. HECS indexation shocks created lasting reputational damage to a scheme that mostly works.

What it looks like across cohorts

Highest-leverage ideas

• HECS predictability rule (small) — cap indexation at min(WPI, CPI). (i013)
• Adult re-skilling micro-credit account (medium) — $5,000 government-matched lifelong-learning account for 30+. (i014)
• Languages in schools fund (small) — per-student supplement for First Nations Languages programs. (i028)
• AMEP+: childcare embedded (medium) — AMEP English co-located with onsite ECEC. (i041)
• Transition Study Scholarship (small) — 2-year scholarship for service-leavers. (i053)
• School inclusion assurance (small) — national monitor on school exclusions/refusals. (i066)
• National teacher pipeline (medium) — 5-year scholarships, HECS write-off, rural retention. (i078)
• School-portal common UX standard (small) — mandatory federal common UX/data spec for school comms portals. (i090)

Sources

• Citizen Voice 2025 — Education & Childcare section
• Productivity Commission, RoGS (Education and Training)
• AITSL teacher-workforce data
• AMEP outcomes reports
• Disability Royal Commission (Education)