Champions of education and training in Australia have long signalled the virtues of lifelong learning as a means to navigate increasingly complex career structures and to enrich lives. To ensure that our longer lives are better lives, we will need to engage much more frequently in education and training as we get older, continuously updating and refreshing our education and skills not only to enable us to keep up with the accelerating pace of change across the industries in which we work, but also to revive and inspire us to make transitions in every stage of life.

A fantastic example in Western Sydney is the forthcoming Aerotropolis, which will be home to a world-class higher education institution specialising in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Four of NSW’s leading universities, including Western Sydney University are collaborating on this project to ensure young people in Western Sydney are ready for the jobs of tomorrow.

As Australia's current working population begins to truly understand the impact of macro trends – globalisation, longevity, technology transformation – on their immediate futures, we wondered how this would impact their attitudes towards further study, and their expectations of tertiary education providers.

To begin to address this information gap, Deloitte commissioned a survey to gather information about current Australian workers attitudes towards lifelong learning, and the needs and preferences of those who are interested in study.

What we uncovered is a story of positivity and possibility.

Download the report