Most, if not all, Australian secondary schools provide career services to their middle year’s and senior students.
Different schools structure their careers services in a variety of ways. Below are some links to websites provided by individual Australian schools about their particular approach.
Much of this work is done one-on-one with individual students, although occasionally also with their parents.
In recent years, the Federal Department of Education, as well as various state Education Departments have development curriculum frameworks designed to help schools provide careers advice to their students. Two examples are:
The Australian Blueprint for Career Development which is a framework for designing, implementing and evaluating career development programs for young people and adults. At its core, the Blueprint identifies the skills, attitudes and knowledge that individuals need to make sound choices and to effectively manage their careers.
https://www.education.gov.au/australian-blueprint-career-development
Victorian Careers Curriculum Framework:
There is also some international research in this area, for example:
The Gatsby Foundation in the UK:
https://www.gatsby.org.uk/education/programmes/good-career-guidance
The futures foundation has helped a number of schools develop and implement their career guidance programs. In particular, we specialise in organising and delivering careers events that begin with a guest speaker and then allow students to meet and talk with people in real jobs (often their own school alumni. One example is pictured below:
Photos from Kooingal High School in New South Wales – https://www.kooringal-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/gallery/careers-information-night
Media reports (such as this: https://www.smh.com.au/national/non-government-schools/school-careers-nights-rev-up-when-mentors-drop-in-20150721-gih1ri.html) confirm the value most students find in these events.
If your school (or cluster of schools) would like to talk about how to bring your students’ careers experience into the 21st century, please either call us on 03 9029 5787 – or use the Find-a-Futurist form on this website (https://futuresfoundation.org.au/find-futurist/).
Click here to access a document we often give out to students after we have spoken with them: Welcome to the world of work in the twenty first century
Some examples of individual school approaches to career development programs:
Victoria
Suzanne Cory High School – actually produce a careers newsletter, an example is:
https://www.suzannecoryhs.vic.edu.au/images/newsletter/careers/Volume5/Careersv05i06.pdf
Charles LaTrobe College – where careers services are embedded from years 7 to 12:
https://www.charleslatrobecollege.vic.edu.au/index.php/collegeprograms/careers.html
New South Wales
Northern Beaches Secondary College – a multi-site college whose website provides a wide variety of external careers resources:
https://www.nbsc.schools.nsw.edu.au/college-opportunities/careers-support
Coffs Harbour Senior College: – who, as part of their English curriculum, require students to provide a showcase of their chosen career to their classmates and their teachers:
Queensland
Southport State High School – whose website provides a large amount of detail about their career programs:
https://southportshs.eq.edu.au/Supportandresources/Studentservicesandsupportprograms/Pages/Career-guidance.aspx
Ignatius Park College – whose career development web presence is possibly the most comprehensive in our experience:
https://www.ipc.qld.edu.au/pastoral/careers/careers_advice.php
Western Australia
Sacred Heart College – who, in addition to providing links to a wide range of external resources, also include study and learning tips linked to particular careers:
https://www.sacredheart.wa.edu.au/2012-07-03-12-19-54/careers-counsellor
South Australia
Henley High School – who require all Year 10 students to develop a personal development plan which they continually update during their final three years of schooling:
https://www.henleyhs.sa.edu.au/section/programs/career-development/career-development
Many universities also offer secondary school students access to specially designed days on their campuses. One example is:
Universities: