The Mitchell Institute monitors the performance of Australia's education system, with a specific focus on developing and advocating for policies that reduce inequality.

Our work identifies who is experiencing reduced opportunities in education, the factors driving inequality and the policy solutions that will provide greater opportunities for all young people to succeed in education and their life beyond.

Key contacts

Peter Hurley
Director, Mitchell Institute
A child plays with an abacus.
Opinion

Quality childcare has become a necessity for Australian families, and for society

17 February 2020

An Australian family on the average wage typically spends close to A$6,000 out of pocket per year on child care, a new analysis from the Mitchell Institute shows.

assets/arrow-long Created with Sketch.
News

Parents spend more on childcare than on private school

16 February 2020

Parents are spending more, on average, educating their children aged under five than those sending their children to private primary schools, a new report finds.

assets/arrow-long Created with Sketch.
Report

Australian investment in education: Early learning

16 February 2020

Government expenditure on early childhood education and care (ECEC) has grown substantially since 2008, and in 2018 was approximately $9.2 billion. This is an increase in real terms since 2008 of almost 140%.

assets/arrow-long Created with Sketch.
Paper

Student-centred senior secondary schooling

7 February 2020

Scrutiny of senior secondary schooling across Australia signals that something needs to change. This report proposes five principles to guide future reform directions.

assets/arrow-long Created with Sketch.
News

VET funding in every state drops to lowest level in more than a decade

20 December 2019

Australia risks failing to properly provide the high-quality training for the 45% of new jobs needing VET qualifications that will be created in the next five years.

assets/arrow-long Created with Sketch.
Report

Australian investment in education: VET

20 December 2019

Australia’s total reported investment in the VET sector is at its lowest level in real terms since at least 2008.

assets/arrow-long Created with Sketch.
Opinion

Children learn through play – it shouldn’t stop at preschool

19 November 2019

Over the next few weeks, many preschoolers will meet their foundation teachers, spend some time in a classroom and hopefully make some new friends.

assets/arrow-long Created with Sketch.
Action needed to deliver the Melbourne Declaration
Opinion

Choosing a school for your kid? Here’s how other Australian parents do it

31 October 2019

School choice is a defining feature of Australian education. One reason is because more families make choices between public and private schools than in other OECD countries.

assets/arrow-long Created with Sketch.
Paper

The role of universities, Roundtable report

23 October 2019

In 2019, Victoria University hosted a Roundtable with leaders from the tertiary education, government, industry and not-for-profit sectors to discuss the changing roles of universities in the tertiary sector.

assets/arrow-long Created with Sketch.