The Secretary of DETYA, Steve Sedgwick opened the conference in the absence of Minister Kemp, and outlined the Department's standing in the careers field. Among the list of Departmental achievements, one of interest was the announcement that Ministers had agreed to the establishment of a National Online Careers Information Service (NOCIS) at the MCEETYA meeting in the previous week. Given the emphasis placed on the importance of quality career information throughout the conference, and the activity in some states along the same lines (such as the Get Access site recently launched in WA; see http://getaccess.westone.wa.gov.au/), it will be interesting to see how NOCIS develops.

Dr. Penny Flett, 1998 Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year, and the Executive Director of Brightwater Care Group, inspired and warmed delegates with tales from the aged care sector. She encouraged an understanding of the context of change and highlighted numerous similarities between the health industry and the career guidance sector, including uncertainty, vulnerability and ethical considerations. Advising everyone to "think big and think brave", using anecdotes and stories she highlighted our propensity to "choose our limitations", and challenged delegates to embrace change and read the future. Delegates will re-tell her "leap the culvert" story for years to come.

Former Dusseldorp Forum member Richard Sweet reported on his recent work with the Education and Training Division of the OECD. Describing a 14 country review of the transition from initial education to working life, he pinpointed key success factors of effective transition systems. These included such things as well organised pathways, workplace experience during education, tight safety nets for young people at risk, and good information and guidance systems.

Richard noted that workplace experience during education was successful if it incorporated apprenticeships, student part time and holiday work (noting that this positively correlated with the chance of finding full time work) and/or school organised workplace experience, providing this was of high quality.

Richard humoured the audience by reaching the conclusion that across the countries participating in the study, there was no one single answer to improving the school/work transition. He noted that different types of countries could produce good school/work transition outcomes using different means.

In comparison with the other countries in the study, Richard reported that Australia might improve its performance in school-to-work transition by:
· Increasing school retention and decreasing early school leaving
· Developing and improving safety nets for early school leavers
· Improve the quality of workplace learning programs
· Continue to build strong links between schools and employers
· Strengthening information and guidance systems.

Reflecting whether this meant a new agenda for Australia, he decided that it meant that there possibly needed to be a slight refocus of our priorities. Go to www.oecd.org/els/edu/index.htm to explore work leading up to Richard's presentation. The papers are also available from this website as PDF files.

Canada seems to be the adopted home of career counselling and innovative web-based workforce information and career guidance systems. Conference delegates were treated to a number of valuable concurrent sessions from Canadian colleagues, and a keynote presentation from Dr. Vance Peavey, the father of constructivist counselling. Unfortunately his time was limited, and some workshops in his speciality would have been appreciated and well attended. The same could be said of University of Minnesota Professor Dr Sunny Hansen, whose work in gender roles in career development was enthusiastically shared in an impromptu workshop immediately following her rushed keynote.

Delegates were keen to hear about the outcomes of the initial pilot of The Real Game, an innovative program (again out of Canada) that involves students in all aspects of life after school, providing a broad platform on which to base careers programs. The next round of Australian pilots for The Real Game commences in term 2. Go to http://www.detya.gov.au/ty/newsletter/issue6/realgame.htm for contacts to find out more.

As with any conference, the concurrent sessions were peppered with presentations that sparked the imagination and enthusiasm of delegates. Doug Gibson from Ocean Reef SHS in WA explained his use of narrative techniques in careers counselling, advocating the use of conversations and stories in careers with students from Year 8 upwards. Pam Fletcher from the DETE (SA) outlined the way the enterprise and vocational education was promoted through a series of regional school clusters, providing a logical explanation of some of the outcomes of that state's Ready Set Go program.

The conference closed with a series of recommendations arising from comments collected from delegates, focussing on a number of key themes including seamless integration of pathways, promotion of a holistic approach of careers, and increasing resourcing for careers. The recommendations also highlighted the need for current, accurate and accessible career information, the adoption of quality assurance principles in careers services, and a co-ordinated lobbying voice for the careers field. Let's hope that the conference organisers are able to carry forward these recommendations through the AACC or the various state bodies.

Conference Proceedings:
The conference proceedings are available on CD for $25 from Petrie International, fax (08) 9257-2099 or email petrconf@iinet.net.au. The next International Career Development Conference will be held in Vancouver, Canada on March 6-9 2001. Proposals for concurrent sessions must be received by 15 September 2000. Visit http://workinfonet.bc.ca/goingforgold2001 for further details.

The 10th AACC National Conference, with the theme "Creating workplaces that value people", will be held in Hobart from April 19-21 2001. Proposals for concurrent sessions must also be received by 15 September 2000. Visit www.aacc.org.au for further details.

Martin  Murley
Curriculum Corporation
martin@curriculum.edu.au

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