The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. The overall aim of PISA is to measure how well 15-year-olds approaching the end of their compulsory schooling are prepared for meeting the challenges they will face in their lives beyond school. In 2003, Australian students participated in the second cycle of PISA, which emphasized mathematical literacy. This second national report describes the details of their participation and results in both the national and international context. In addition this report makes comparisons where possible between results obtained in PISA 2000 and PISA 2003. The first chapter focuses on the development of PISA, the nature of the assessment, the target population details and the implementation of the survey. The remaining chapters describe Australia's results in the international context; examine associations of those results with national characteristics such as Indigenous status, language background and geographic location; and explore the major factors associated with performance. Appended are: (1) PISA's procedures; (2) Sampling; (3) Statistical tables; and (4) Definition of variables. A list of acronyms and abbreviations and a glossary are also included. (Contains 62 tables and 95 figures.)