AFTER a period of dramatic growth in school completion in Australia, rates of school retention have begun to decline. At its peak in 1992 the national rate of retention to Year 12 was approximately 77 per cent. By 1995 the rate had fallen to 72 per cent. The aim of this paper is to document state, system, and social differences in the recent downturn in school completion rates in Australia. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and from the Australian Youth Survey are used to look at patterns across states, school systems, geographical locations, social backgrounds, and by sex. The results suggest that during the 1990s the downturn in completion has been uneven and some groups of users which had come to rely on schooling during the 1980s for their future economic security are now turning away from school. The findings indicate a continuing need to monitor the numbers of young people completing school and their backgrounds.
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