On 21.2.2019 Senator Doug Cameron put the following questions to the Department of Education and Training in the Senate’s estimates committee:
- What level of funding has been allocated to undertake the PIACC survey?
- Is the PIACC survey going to be designed and administered by the ABS?
- What is the procurement process for the PIACC and what are the associated timelines?
- Has any additional funding been allocated to specifically sample ATSI communities?
The written response, given 4.4.19, was as follows:
Approximately $8.4 million has been allocated for Australia’s participation in the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) over 2018–19 to 2021–22.
A procurement process will be undertaken to appoint a National Project Manager to deliver the PIAAC survey in Australia. This will include arrangements for the design and administration of the survey. The procurement process is expected to be undertaken in the first half of 2019.
No additional funding has been allocated to specifically sample Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities at this stage. Indigenous individuals are expected to be sampled as part of PIAAC, and the PIAAC survey will include an Indigenous identifier.
For more information about PIAAC: see Pam Osmond’s insightful conversation starter from Dec 2018, PIAAC The International Adult Literacy survey – should Australia take part?