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The effects of globalization and rapid technological change on emerging occupational patterns in Australia need to be understood in order to understand their implications for the effects on education and vocational training. Building on the classification scheme introduced by Robert Reich in his 1992 book, the Work of Nations, Australian employment data was analyzed in terms of the following nine proposed occupational categories: symbolic analytic services (conceptual and technical); in-person services (professional, intermediate, elementary); and routine production services (advanced skill, white collar, blue collar, low skill). Analyzing the changes in the data from 1986 to 1996 lead to the following conclusions: (1) the impact of the globalization of the world economy and rapid technological advancement on employment in Australia has generally been more negative than positive; (2) polarization of attachment to Australia's labor force has increased over the past decade; (3) although the employment picture has generally improved for Australia's female workers, employment growth has been sluggish for males; (4) Australia's universities must improve their performance as a major source of symbolic analysts; (5) Australia's technical and further education (TAFE) sector must increase its effectiveness in preparing people for employment as in-person service workers and conceptual symbolic analysts; and (6) the TAFE and VET (vocational education and training) sectors must clearly define the pathways between them and develop imaginative cooperative programs. (The report contains 29 references and 18 tables/figures. Nine additional tables are appended.) (MN)