Graduate employment outcomes have continued to improve, with the full-time employment rate for domestic undergraduates increasing from 78.5 per cent in 2022 to 79.0 per cent in 2023. Graduate full-time employment rates are at their highest level since the GOS survey commenced in 2016. The overall undergraduate employment rate has also increased, from 88.3 per cent to 88.9 per cent. Further details are available in the 2023 GOS National Report and the data visualisation above.

The GOS is completed by graduates approximately four months after completion of their studies. It provides information on the labour market outcomes and further study activities of graduates. Employment data collected includes information on salaries, occupation and skills utilisation. The GOS has been administered annually since 2016.

Recent graduates of Australian higher education institutions are in scope for the GOS, including at undergraduate, postgraduate coursework and postgraduate research level. Information is collected for both domestic and onshore international graduates, however published results refer to domestic graduates only.

The GOS uses labour force definitions which conform to the conceptual framework of the standard labour force statistics model used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Full-time employment relates to graduates employed for 35 hours or more per week. Overall employment relates to graduates employed for one or more hours per week. For more detail, refer to the latest 2022 GOS National Report.

Information on the ComparED website about graduate employment outcomes and satisfaction is sourced from the GOS, including responses from domestic undergraduate and postgraduate coursework level graduates. Survey results from the three most recent collection years are pooled to improve data reliability. Three indicators of graduate labour force outcomes are displayed on the ComparED website:

1. Graduates in full-time employment
2. Graduates in overall employment
3. Graduates in full-time study

90 per cent confidence intervals are displayed to provide a measure of accuracy of the estimates. For technical details about the calculations used to score data derived from the GOS, please see the document, GOS Methodology for ComparED Website.

Graduate incomes data is sourced from records from the Australian Taxation Office.

The CEQ provides information about the quality of higher education in Australia, by asking graduates to what extent they agree with a series of statements about their study experiences. It is administered annually in conjunction with the GOS. The CEQ is completed by undergraduate and postgraduate coursework level graduates of Australian higher education institutions, including both domestic and international onshore graduates.

From the 2021 GOS collection cycle, only one overall satisfaction item from the CEQ is being funded by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment. The CEQ in its entirety can be included by institutions on an opt-in basis, funded by individual institutions wanting to participate.

The ‘Overall satisfaction’ item from the CEQ is displayed on the ComparED website, including responses from both domestic and international onshore graduates, at undergraduate and postgraduate coursework level. Survey results from the two most recent collection years are pooled to improve the reliability of the information.

90 per cent confidence intervals are displayed to provide a measure of accuracy of the estimates. For technical details about the calculations used to score data derived from the CEQ, please see the document, CEQ Methodology for ComparED Website.