Australia Government Job Guide
Australian Government Job Search
Career.com.au Employment Solutions
JobNet Australia: Search for Australian Jobs
JobStar Central for resume advice
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
http://www.dest.gov.au/default.htm
Workforce Development NSW TAFE
Startlocal Workplace Development
The Source Australian Youth Forum
Australian Workplace Authority
The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER)
Rationale for the course
Work Studies has been developed in response to the rapid expansion of Other Endorsed Studies proposals in this area. For many years, work experience, career education and similar programs have played an important role in assisting secondary school students to understand the world of work. Schools are now increasingly seeking to provide more substantial opportunities for students in Years 11 and 12 to gain knowledge, skills, values and attitudes which will facilitate school to work transition. This reflects the trend towards a convergence of general and vocational education.
Work in all its forms — paid and unpaid — plays a central role in our lives. Thus an awareness of issues and concepts related to the world of work, and the acquisition of work-related skills, are valuable for all students, irrespective of their post-school aspirations. Work Studies will assist students to recognise the links between education, training, work and lifestyle, and the economic and social factors that affect work opportunities. It will develop students’ skills in accessing work-related information, presenting themselves to potential employers, and functioning effectively in the workplace.
One consequence of the rapid increase in school retention rates is that, on exit from Year 12, young people are pursuing a more diverse range of pathways than ever before. In addition to the traditional pathway from the Higher School Certificate to university, options such as TAFE study, industry-based training, casual, part-time or full-time work in various combinations are increasingly prevalent. New curriculum offerings and more flexible patterns of study for the Higher School Certificate are an acknowledgement of this changing mix of post-school destinations. In this climate, Work Studies can equip students to make more informed decisions about their future study and employment pathways.
Technological, social and economic factors are rapidly changing the nature of work and traditional patterns of work organisation. Many of the occupations which will be undertaken by students currently in secondary schools do not yet exist. Preparing students for such a future requires a flexible approach which enables students to acquire general work-related knowledge, skills and attitudes, transferable across a number of occupational areas. Being generic, rather than industry-specific, Work Studies provides a framework within which students may explore several areas of vocational interest.
The strongly practical orientation of the course is intended to give students useful experiences against which to test their emerging career and/or study preferences. It also allows for students to develop a range of skills and attitudes in actual workplace contexts. The value of these experiences will be reinforced by the school-based components of the course, which provide both a knowledge base and the opportunity for structured reflection on workplace learning. (From the NSW BOS Syllabus).
