Overview
Remaining engaged in school and completing and excelling at Year 12 or equivalent can provide Aboriginal learners with greater opportunities and choice for their future pathways.
Measures under Goal 6 have varied results
Fewer Aboriginal students are continuing their education through to Year 12 in 2025 as a proportion of their year 10 cohort in 2015.
In contrast more Aboriginal students are completing Year 12 than ever before. This reflects that the cohort of Aboriginal students in Victoria is increasing.
Goal 6 directly aligns with the following Closing the Gap Outcome and Target
Outcome 5: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students achieve their full learning potential.
- Target 5: By 2031, 96 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (aged 20-24) attain a Year 12 or equivalent qualification.
Closing the Gap - How Victoria is tracking nationally
Outcome 5: In 2021, 68.1 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 20–24 years had attained Year 12 or equivalent qualification across Australia, compared to 72.6 per cent in Victoria. Nationally, based on progress from the baseline year (2016), the target shows improvement but is not on track to be met. In Victoria, there has been some improvement since the baseline year.
Data Note
The following measures rely on datasets that are infrequently collected. No new data was available at the time of reporting.
- Measure 6.1.1 Proportion of young people aged 20-24 with Year 12 or equivalent
Historical data for this measure is available on the First Peoples – State Relations website
6.1 Increase Year 12 or equivalent attainment
Measure 6.1.2 Apparent retention rates for students in Years 10 to 12
What does the data say?
In 2025, 56.2 per cent of Year 10 to 12 Aboriginal students in Victorian government schools continued their secondary studies for a second year or until graduation.
Does the data show improvement or decline?
Since 2016 the apparent retention rate for Year 10 to 12 Aboriginal government school students in Victoria has been declining. In 2016, 65.6 per cent of Aboriginal students in Victorian government schools continued their studies for a second year or until graduation.
How does this compare with non-Aboriginal results?
In 2025, 80.2 per cent of Year 10 to 12 non-Aboriginal students in Victorian government schools continued their secondary studies for a second year or until graduation. Since 2016 the apparent retention rate for Year 10 to 12 non-Aboriginal students decreased by 1.9 percentage points.
Measure 6.1.3 Number of Aboriginal students who complete the VCE, VCAL or VET in Schools Certificate
What does the data say?
In 2025, 758 Aboriginal students completed the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), including VCE Vocational Major (VCE VM), and the Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC). This measure was updated for the 2024 VGAAR as a result of the Senior Secondary Pathways Reform. Data from 2011 to 2023 is not comparable to data from 2024 onwards.
Does the data show improvement or decline?
The number of Aboriginal people who completed secondary schooling in 2025 has increased in comparison to 2024.
Goal 6 – Victorian Government Investment and Action
The Victorian Government is driving action through Marrung: Aboriginal Education Plan 2016-2026 (Marrung) and Best Start, Best Life reforms to ensure that all Aboriginal Victorians achieve their learning aspirations. The key Aboriginal Governance Forum for realising outcomes in this Domain is the Marrung Central Governance Committee.
The Senior Secondary Pathways Reform
The Senior Secondary Pathways Reform have been delivering universal change to the schooling system since 2021 to improve vocational and applied learning in senior secondary years. These reforms were designed to support more students in considering pathways that align with their strengths and interests, and to more successfully transition to post-school pathways.
My Career Insights
A career advisory service known as My Career Insights is available to every Year 9 student in a government school and provides access to a world-leading career diagnostic tool, followed by a one-on-one career counselling session by a qualified career practitioner trained in the tool. For some students, additional support is provided over a longer period to undertake career planning activities including work experience through the Enhanced My Career Insights pilot program. This began in July 2024, providing four individual sessions with a career practitioner to students from priority backgrounds, including First Nations young people. To date, over 100 First Nations young people have participated in the pilot.
Career Advice Service
The Career Advice Service is a program that is available for all early school leavers, which includes a dedicated program of culturally safe, targeted supports that is being piloted for First Nations early school leavers. This dedicated program promotes self-determination and fosters a culturally safe environment that supports and empowers First Nations young people to actively shape their educational and career pathways as early school leavers. The supports are being delivered by the Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative, the Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency, and the TAFE Koorie Transition unit at GOTAFE.
The Victorian Early Leaver Connection Initiative (VELCI)
VELCI supports Victorian early school leavers to stay engaged in education and training, which can also include successfully completing a Year 12 or a vocational education and training certificate. The 2025/26 State Budget invested $91 million into the VELCI, which will deliver a pilot career advice service for Victorian early school leavers, mentoring and other supports for First Nations young people and young people with disabilities who are early school leavers, and supporting options to complete Year 12 at TAFE. In 2025, 32 First Nations young people participated in the career advisory service and 96 First Nations young people participated in targeted support services.
Yani Bangal Transport and Planning Portfolio First Peoples Careers Strategy 2023 – 2028
The Yani Bangal Transport and Planning Portfolio First Peoples Careers Strategy 2023–2028 (Yani Bangal) was launched in 2023. Yani Bangal is underpinned by a 2 per cent First Peoples employment target and includes 42 actions. Of the 42 actions, 20 are completed (some ongoing), 15 are in progress and 6 are yet to commence. Some of the key actions completed in 2025 include:
- implementing a Cultural and Ceremonial Leave policy
- developing a suite of cultural safety training programs
- undertaking a cultural safety audit for First Peoples employees and using data to direct actions and monitor progress
- providing regular opportunities for the First Peoples Staff Network to connect
- holding the fourth annual First Peoples Staff Conference
- delivering the fifth annual Yani Bangal Scholarship Program.
The Yani Bangal Scholarship Program (Scholarship Program) provides financial support to First Peoples students, supports educational completion and strengthens pathways into further training and employment. Since the inception of the Yani Bangal First Peoples Scholarship Program in 2020, a total of 75 scholarships have been awarded, comprising 49 secondary school, five TAFE and 21 university scholarships.
In 2025, the Transport and Planning Portfolio provided 15 scholarships under the Scholarship Program. The Scholarship Program provided scholarships to four secondary school students, three TAFE students and eight university students.
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