Summary - The estimated economic impact of the Girls Academy Program (2018)

Role Model and Leaders Australia (RMLA) delivered the Girls Academy Program. RMLA engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct a cost benefit analysis (CBA) to estimate the economic impact of raising Year 12 completion rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young women. The CBA was finalised in September 2018.

Approach

PwC assessed the economic and fiscal impacts of two scenarios: the average lifetime outcomes for Indigenous young women who complete Year 12, compared to the average of lifetime outcomes of Indigenous young women who did not. 

Data

The CBA used Australian Census of Population and Housing data and Year 12 completion data from Girls Academy schools to make comparisons over time, across regions, and within schools. The data related to two time periods 2011 (prior to the introduction of the Girls Academy Program) and 2016 (following introduction of the Girls Academy program). In 2016, 70 Girls Academy girls completed Year 12. The CBA used data from the Productivity Commission, Australian Census of Population and Housing, and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare to estimate the education, employment, welfare, justice, and health benefits.  

Summary of the Main Findings

The CBA estimated that:

• The Girls Academy Program improves a student’s chances of completing Year 12 by 5 - 7 percentage points.  
• Given the improved likelihood of completion and assuming this is due to the Girls Academy program, the Benefit-Cost ratio of 1.31:1 for the Girls Academy Program, indicating that the Girls Academy Program returns $1.31 to society for every $1 spent.