Why is School-Based Career Counselling Not Prioritised in Australia?

Class-based career guidance is inadequate. Career counselling is a one on one activity.

School-based career counselling in Australia is often criticized for being ineffective. A number of factors are often cited, including inadequate funding, little systemic planning, a lack of resources and a shortage of qualified professionals. This has led to a situation where many students do not receive the support they need to make informed decisions about post school tertiary pathways and career opportunities.

Many young people in Australia today are experiencing significant negative mental health challenges as a result. Almost three quarters of adolescents (i.e. 10-24 years) in Australia are currently experiencing clinically significant depression or anxiety symptoms. Not having any real help with deciding what you want to do with your life is, in my opinion, a big contributor to a sense of alienation and learned helplessness.

Here is my take on the issue:

1. Inadequate and Misdirected Funding and Resources

• Many schools claim they lack sufficient funding for career development activities.

  
  

• At the same large amounts of money are spent often spent on buildings ('vanity projects') rather than student support services like career resouces and guidance.

  
  

• A significant portion of school career practitioners work part-time, limiting their ability to provide comprehensive support, according to the Career Industry Council of Australia (CICA).

  
  

• Some schools struggle to afford staff and resources e.g. some Australian schools have less than $3 per student to spend on career education, according to CICA. 

  
  

2. Shortage of Qualified Professionals

• Of the qualified and experienced school career practitioners who do exist, many are under-resourced and time-poor, affecting their ability to provide effective guidance, according to CICA. 

  
  

• There is a lack of specialized training for school teachers to effectively identify and address students' mental health concerns related to tertiary study and career exploration. 

  
  

• Many students and reporting receiving incorrect advice from teachers/other staff who lack up-to-date knowledge of the wide range of career opportunities now available and the most individually appropriate tertiary pathways to these careers. 

  
  

3. Impact on Students

• A significant number of students report they find career support at their schools unhelpful, and that they are experiencing negative mental health impacts due to pressure to attend university. They should be introduced to the full range of post school education and training opportunities available to them.

  
  

• Students often make career choices based on limited information or pressure, leading to dissatisfaction and potential dropout from tertiary education. 

  
  

• Students feel the need for more individual and supportive advice and the option of exploring career options based on their values, interests and potentials i.e. as opposed to the 'cookie cutter' approach often used by schools. 

  
  

4. Broader Issues

• There is a lack of a strategic focus on providing flexible and adaptive career planning and skills development information and support in our schools. We are experiencing the most rapid economic and technological change in human history. School and tertiary education systems need to adapt.

  
  

• The reliance on ATAR as a sole measure of student potential is being increasingly criticized, with calls for more focus on alterate pathways and individualised values and strengths based approaches to help young people into their careers of choice. 

  
  

• The vocational education and training (VET) sector is undervalued, leading to an imbalance in career pathways. 

  
  

• The school career services that do exist are often fragmented and lack coordination. 

  
  

The current overall state of school-based career counselling in Australia is characterized by a lack of resources, few qualified professionals and very little strategic planning. This leads to students making uninformed career decisions and concomitant poor tertiary pathway choices, negatively impacting young people's mental health, self-confidence and limiting their opportunities to create meaningful and rewarding lives on their own terms. A personally congruent and happy life is surely what we all want for our children.

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