Over the past sixty years, Australia has become a very active part of the global community, greatly widening its earlier, mostly British, connections. We have gained from this wider horizon and also contributed significantly to the world community, largely through our active cooperation in international agencies. We now face a major issue in Australian education, to deliver an effective education for life to all our people. Our international links make clear the nature of this problem and also show us that it is possible to have high quality education without sacrificing equity.