Career education in government schools is being transformed to ensure students:
- are supported to understand their strengths and interests
- have the skills and capabilities to navigate multiple careers
- can meet the challenges of the rapidly changing world of work.
A suite of new initiatives will make sure students have access to high-quality career education and are prepared for life beyond school through more informed career and pathway decisions.
Parents may like to read How to talk to your child about their career and Study options in years 11 and 12.
Focus areas
These new initiatives will focus on 3 key areas of reform.
Start early
Career education will be comprehensive. Support for a decision-making process will start in year 7 and result in students being able to confidently make informed subject, course and career choices in later years of school and beyond.
Connect to work
Career education will enhance students’ quality engagement with the world of work. It will give them opportunities to see and experience different jobs. These explorations are vital to assist students in making informed career decisions.
Make career education a priority
Build the capacity of our career education system to support our government schools to deliver high-quality career education by training more than 400 careers practitioners across 4 years.
Initiatives for schools
Career education funding
Career education funding (CEF) helps secondary schools implement a broad range of career education activities for all students from year 7 and ensure all students in years 9 to 12 develop detailed and robust career action plans and receive course and career counselling.
Visit career education funding for more information.
My Career Exploration
My Career Exploration provides schools with teaching and learning resources to help years 7 and 8 students think about their interests, skills, values and aspirations and explore the world of the work through classroom activities and encounters with employers and industry.
Find out more about My Career Exploration.
My Career Insights
All year 9 students will be given access to:
- Morrisby, an online career discovery tool
- analysis of their Morrisby career assessment through one-on-one career counselling by an externally accredited career practitioner.
Find out more about My Career Insights.
My Career Portfolio for years 7 to 12 students
An online resource that supports students to:
- create and update an online career action plan
- store files related to their course and career planning
- access links to current information and resources to support course and career exploration.
Find out more about My Career Portfolio.
Industry engagement for priority cohorts (IEPC)
IEPC aims to connect students in years 7 to 10 with the world of work by facilitating genuine and meaningful workplace learning opportunities. It supports 4 priority cohorts:
- Koorie students
- students in out-of-home-care
- students with a disability
- students in youth detention.
The initiative has 3 objectives:
- connect students with industry engagement and workplace learning opportunities
- prepare and support students and employers for a mutually beneficial industry experience
- upskill school staff to better address the needs of students in these priority cohorts when securing industry engagement and delivering career education more broadly.
To achieve these objectives, the IEPC initiative employs coordinators with cohort-specific expertise in pilot locations across the state to work with schools, employers and industry.
Upskilling career practitioners
We offer study grants to support government secondary teachers to complete a Graduate Certificate in Career Education/Career Development. More than 400 teachers have received these grants since 2019.
The funding will cover all costs in most cases. Schools can also get 2 days of casual relief teaching to support involvement in coursework.
We encourage all government secondary schools to help their staff to apply. An expression of interest process is run each year. More information about how to apply will be available when this process opens.
Career education across the Victorian curriculum
Connecting Learning to Work is a project in collaboration with the Career Education Association of Victoria (CEAV) and The Council of Professional Teaching Associations of Victoria (CPTAV) to support teachers’ associations to create resources that assist teachers and careers practitioners to connect learning in the classroom to potential careers.
In Phase 1 of the project resources, including interviews, films, posters, activities and quizzes created by teachers’ associations, can be accessed at the CEAV website
In Phase 2, teachers’ associations will be supported to run professional learning for their members in how these resources can be used to draw real-world connections to classroom learning.
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) has developed advice and teaching and learning resources that show how career education can be delivered across the Victorian Curriculum F-10 To access this material visit Career Education Resources | VCAA website
Enhanced work readiness for students with a disability
This initiative includes:
- strengthened career education resources for students with a disability. These resources reflect the contemporary world of work
- A Job Well Done to help prepare students with disabilities for work experience, which includes 8 new videos, a web-based interactive game and new teaching and learning resources
- professional learning for career practitioners and teachers in government secondary and special schools
- seminars on career education for parents and carers of children with disabilities.
Resources for career practitioners
Senior secondary certificate reform
Senior secondary education in Victoria is changing and new study options are available to senior secondary students.
The VCE Vocational Major is a new 2-year program within the VCE. Students develop knowledge, confidence and skills for work and life, meaning the VCE will recognise different students equally.
The new Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC) is a flexible foundation secondary course designed for a small number of students in years 11 and 12 who, for various reasons, are not able or ready to undertake the VCE or the VCE Vocational Major.
For more information, visit Many Talents One VCE.
For supporting resources see:
- VCAA professional learning | VCAA website
- VCE Vocational Major and VPC resources | Policy and Advisory Library
Workplace learning policy and guidance
- Work experience – Short term placement of secondary school students with employers
- Structured Workplace Learning – Integrate on-the-job experience with secondary school studies
- School Community Work – Volunteer work to benefit the community
- safe@work – Occupational health and safety program for students undertaking work experience
- Workplace learning health and safety – Additional resources to support students to have a better understanding and awareness of occupational health and safety in the workplace
More information
Or contact career.education@education.vic.gov.au.
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