Institute for Learning & Performance Asia Pacific

2026 ILP L&D Benchmark™

The Annual Benchmark for Learning & Development in Australia & Asia Pacific.

Building on ILP's annual L&D Industry Survey, this benchmark provides trusted industry data across professional practice, organisational investment, learning activity, impact measurement, technology, capability and commercial rates.

Estimated completion time: 12–15 minutes

The survey uses tailored pathways, so you will only see questions relevant to your work: Corporate/Internal L&D or Consultant/External Provider.

Once sufficient responses are collected, ILP can use the results to provide credible industry comparisons and benchmark insights.

About this research

The Institute for Learning & Performance Asia Pacific (ILP) has conducted an annual Learning & Development Industry Survey for many years to provide the profession with practical, independent market insight. The 2026 survey evolves that work into the ILP L&D Benchmark™ — a structured annual benchmarking framework designed to help L&D professionals and organisations understand their position in the market and compare key indicators over time.

The benchmark retains the key subjects historically covered by ILP, including professional profile, delivery, corporate L&D, business conditions, consulting, coaching, learning design, assessment, rates and charging. It also strengthens the research around L&D investment, strategic alignment, learning activity, workplace application, business impact, AI maturity and learning culture.

Confidentiality: responses should be analysed and reported in aggregate. No individual or organisation should be identified without explicit permission. Small subgroup results should be suppressed where the sample is too small to provide a credible benchmark.

Navigation: once you complete a question, the survey will automatically move you to the next relevant question. You can still scroll back at any time to review or change an earlier response.

Survey flow: some question numbers may be skipped. This is intentional — questions that are not relevant to your selected pathway will be hidden so you only see the questions that apply to you. Respondents working for an RTO or education provider will follow the Consultant / External Provider pathway (Sections G and H).

0% complete Pathway: not yet selected
A

About You

Name of person completing the survey

Required

Email address

Required
1

Which of the following best describes your current role in or around Learning & Development?

Required
2

Where are you primarily based?

Required
3

If in Australia, which state or territory are you primarily based in?

Optional
4

How long have you personally worked in Learning & Development or closely related fields?

Required
5

What is the highest relevant qualification you hold?

Required
6

Which areas form part of your professional practice?

Required
7

Which industry sectors do you currently work within or provide services to? Select all that apply.

Required
B

L&D Industry Outlook — Everyone

8

Which capability or business priorities will require the greatest L&D focus over the next 12 months? Select up to five.

Required
Select up to 5.
10

Rank the five biggest challenges you believe will face L&D over the next 12 months.

Required
Rank your top five challenges, with 1 = biggest challenge. Each item can only be used once.
1
2
3
4
5
12

Over the next 12 months, do you expect overall investment in L&D to:

Required
13

Looking beyond the priorities above, what emerging trend or change do you believe will most reshape L&D over the next 2–3 years?

Optional
Optional. Please focus on an emerging shift or change rather than repeating a priority selected above. Maximum 600 characters.
C

Corporate / Internal L&D — Organisation & Strategy

14

What is the total number of employees in your organisation?

Required
15

What is your organisation's primary industry sector?

Required
16

How many full-time equivalent employees are dedicated primarily to L&D?

Required
17

Who does the most senior L&D leader ultimately report to?

Required
18

How frequently is L&D represented in strategic or executive-level business discussions?

Required
19

Does your organisation have a documented L&D strategy?

Required
20

How strongly is your L&D strategy aligned with the organisation's strategic priorities?

Required
1 — Low 5 — High
21

Approximately what percentage of your L&D initiatives are directly linked to a defined business priority, capability gap or performance requirement?

Optional
Enter a value from 0 to 100.
22

How are learning and capability needs identified in your organisation? Select all that apply.

Required
D

Corporate / Internal L&D — Investment & Activity

23

What was your organisation's approximate total L&D expenditure during the most recently completed financial year?

Required
Include: L&D salaries, external training/providers, technology/platforms, materials and other direct L&D costs. AUD, excluding GST. An estimate is fine. Results will be analysed by organisation size so larger and smaller organisations can be compared appropriately.
24

Which cost categories are included in the L&D expenditure figure above? Select all that apply.

Required
This allows ILP to distinguish fully loaded L&D expenditure (including salaries) from narrower budget figures when benchmarking results.
24A

How is L&D primarily funded within your organisation?

Required
24B

Does your organisation financially support employees to undertake formal qualifications?

Required
Examples include Certificate IV, Diploma, Bachelor's and Master's qualifications.
24C

Approximately how much does your organisation spend each year supporting employees to undertake formal qualifications?

Optional
AUD, excluding GST where applicable. Use your best estimate.
25

Compared with the previous financial year, your total L&D expenditure has:

Required
26

Approximately what percentage of your L&D expenditure is spent with external providers?

Optional
Enter a value from 0 to 100.
27

Approximately how many external L&D vendors or providers did your organisation use during the last 12 months?

Optional
28

Approximately what percentage of employees participated in at least one L&D activity during the most recently completed financial year?

Required
Use your best estimate of the proportion of the workforce served by L&D.
29

Approximately how many hours of formal learning did the average employee undertake during the last 12 months?

Optional
Enter the approximate number of hours, or select “Don't know / not measured”.
30

Approximately what percentage of your learning activity is delivered through each of the following methods?

Required
Allocate each learning activity once so the total equals 100%. For this survey, blended learning means an intentionally designed learning experience combining two or more modes (for example face-to-face + eLearning). If you report an activity as blended, do not also count its component parts under face-to-face, virtual or eLearning.
Face-to-face instructor-led %
Live virtual instructor-led %
Self-paced digital / eLearning %
Blended learning %
Coaching / mentoring %
On-the-job / experiential %
Social / collaborative learning %
Other — please specify %
Total: 0%
31

Which content areas received the greatest L&D investment during the last 12 months? Select up to five.

Required
Select up to 5.
31A

Which capabilities are becoming increasingly important when recruiting or developing L&D professionals? Select up to five.

Required
Select up to 5.
E

Corporate / Internal L&D — Measurement & Impact

32

Which of the following L&D measures does your organisation currently track? Select all that apply.

Required
33

Approximately what proportion of your L&D initiatives are measured at each level?

Required
Select one percentage band for each measurement level.
Learner satisfaction / reaction
Knowledge or skill acquisition
Workplace application / behaviour change
Individual, team or organisational performance
Financial ROI
34

How confident are you that the measurement approaches identified above provide valid and accurate information about learning impact?

Required
1 — Not at all confident 5 — Extremely confident
35

What prevents your organisation from measuring L&D impact more effectively? Select all that apply.

Required
F

Corporate / Internal L&D — AI, Technology & Learning Culture

36

Which best describes your organisation's current level of AI maturity within L&D?

Required
37

Where is AI currently being used within L&D? Select all that apply.

Optional
38

Does your organisation have formal governance or policy regarding the use of AI within L&D?

Required
39

Thinking about your organisation, please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with the following statements about its learning culture.

Required
1 = Strongly disagree   |   5 = Strongly agree
Employees are encouraged to continuously develop their capability.
Employees are provided sufficient time to learn.
Managers actively support employee development and workplace application.
Employees can access learning when they need it.
Knowledge sharing is encouraged.
Learning is connected with career development.
Leaders visibly support learning and development.
Experimentation and learning from mistakes are encouraged.
G

Consultant / External Provider — Business Profile

40

How many years has your L&D business or consulting practice been operating?

Optional
41

What was the approximate annual revenue of your L&D business or consulting practice during the most recently completed financial year?

Optional
AUD, excluding GST. Please select the closest range.
41A

What was your approximate operating or net profit margin during the most recently completed financial year?

Optional
Please use your best estimate. This information will only be reported in aggregate.
42

Compared with the previous financial year, your L&D business revenue has:

Required
43

Approximately how many paying clients did your business or consulting practice work with during the last 12 months?

Optional
44

Approximately what percentage of your revenue came from repeat or existing clients during the last 12 months?

Optional
Enter a value from 0 to 100.
45

Approximately what percentage of your available working time is billable to clients?

Optional
Enter a value from 0 to 100.
46

Approximately what percentage of your business comes from each client type?

Required
Allocate the percentages so the total equals 100%.
Large corporate organisations %
Small and medium businesses %
Government / public sector %
Not-for-profit organisations %
Education / RTOs %
Individuals / self-funded learners %
Other — please specify %
Total: 0%
47

Approximately what percentage of your business revenue comes from each type of service?

Required
Allocate the percentages so the total equals 100%.
Facilitation / training delivery %
Learning design / instructional design %
Consulting / advisory %
Coaching %
Assessment %
Digital learning / eLearning development %
Learning technology / platform services %
Qualifications / accredited training %
Speaking / keynotes %
Licensing / intellectual property %
Other — please specify %
Total: 0%
48

Which methods generated new business for you during the last 12 months? Select all that apply.

Required
49

What are the biggest commercial challenges currently facing your L&D business or consulting practice? Select all that apply.

Required
H

Consultant / External Provider — Rates & Charging

50

Please select the typical rate band for the services you currently provide.

Required
AUD, excluding GST. Use the closest band. Leave cells blank where a rate does not apply.
Service Hourly Half-day / Session Full-day
Face-to-face facilitation
Live virtual facilitation
Learning / instructional design
L&D consulting / advisory
Assessment
51

What is your typical rate for a 60-minute professional, executive or workplace coaching session?

Optional
AUD, excluding GST.
52

Do you use the same rates for all clients?

Required
53

Which factors most influence the rates you charge? Select all that apply.

Required
54

Do you typically charge clients for discovery, scoping or initial consultation work?

Required
55

Which additional costs do you commonly charge separately from your professional fee? Select all that apply.

Required
56

Have you increased your professional rates during the last 12 months?

Required
57

Do you expect to increase your professional rates during the next 12 months?

Required
I

Future of L&D — Everyone

58

Rank the five capabilities you believe will be most important for L&D professionals over the next 3–5 years.

Required
Rank your top five, with 1 = most important. Each capability can only be used once.
1
2
3
4
5
59

How confident are you about the future of the L&D profession over the next 3–5 years?

Required
1 — Not at all confident 10 — Extremely confident
60

Which statement best describes the current maturity of L&D in your organisation or professional practice?

Required
61

What is the single most important issue you believe ILP should help the L&D profession address over the next 12–24 months?

Optional
Maximum 800 characters.

Thank you for contributing to the 2026 ILP L&D Benchmark™

Your response will contribute to a stronger evidence base for the Learning & Development profession across Australia and Asia Pacific.

Participants will receive access to the 2026 benchmark findings when they are released.