This is a recently signed agreement between the Australian federal government and the States and Territories of Australia. It is designed to address the objectives of the National Education Agreement and the National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development already signed by the same parties.

The new agreement covers the engagement of young people aged 15 to 24 with learning, work, employment and the transitions involved, particulary to improve outcomes in educational attainment. There is special reference to social inclusion aims, especially for the indigenuous disadvantaged. Its overall aim is to better align federal, State and Territory programmes and services related to youth, career and transitions. Under the agreement the States and Territories will gradually assume primary responsibility for career guidance activities.

The agreement sets out indicative actions and outcomes for the following reform areas:

• multiple learning paths
• career development
• mentoring
• school, business, community partnerships
• individualised, personalised support for young people at risk.

It also sets out performance indicators and benchmarks for the agreement.

This Agreement is one example of how federal and regional governments can share the responsibility of career guidance provision and of the devolution of power to the regions with performance indicators.

This 2008 report describes some of the definitional, conceptual and historical foundations of the concept of social inclusion. It summarises the strengths and limitations of Australian and international approaches to the topic so far, and sketches some of the scope of exclusion in terms of locational disadvantage, intergenerational disadvantage, children at risk, child poverty and jobless families, employment, mental health, disability and homelessness. It also discusses the relational dimension of exclusion. The report provides elements of policy approaches to move from exclusion to inclusion.

Career guidance is often used as part of multidimensional strategies to address exclusion issues; indeed in its origins it was part of a social reform movement. In order to see where it may or can play a role, this report is essential background reading.

Given the increasing policy importance being paid to the development of the skills to manage one's career, learning and work pathways in a lifelong learning context(Council of European Ministers of Education, 2008), this Australian publication is very timely to provide guidance on what exactly these skills look like. A joint initiative of the federal, state and territorial governments, and published by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, and Training and Youth Affairs, this recently released document provides a framework for the design, implementation and evaluation of career development rogrammes for young people and adults. It identifies the skills, attitudes, and knowledge that individuals need to make sound choices and to effectively manage careers.

It is divided into three sections:

• What are career management competency skills?
• Who uses the Blueprint?
• What is the Blueprint used for?

There is a very useful Blueprint toolkit included - a series of resources to be downloaded to inform and enhance career development programmes and activities.

This 2008 report was produced by the Australian Council for Educational Research for the Department for Education, Science and Training. It examined the participation of pupils in career guidance activities in upper secondary school and of the perceived usefulness of such activities to pupils. In overall terms, the individual career guidance interview was perceived as the most useful activity participated in. Lower-achieving pupils and pupils unsure whether they would complete the final secondary school year year placed more value on careers interventions. As young people participated in more career activities, they found career advice to be more useful.

This paper produced with the support of the Department of Education, Science and Training of Australia and the Department of Education and Training of New South Wales, introduces the concept of the four pillars of career and transition support for young people:

• Family
• Peers
• Community and employers
• Peers.

It describes the empowerment strategy involved and explains how it works in practice.

This is an important paper for policy developers in the fields of education, training and employment, and for researchers. It was commissioned by the Careers Industry Council of Australia and written by Professor Richard Sweet who had responsibility for the OECD review of policies for career guidance in 2001-03.

While its context is Australia, its content is valid for all countries. The paper addresses the following questions:

• Why is a national research strategy needed?
• What is the current state of career development research in Australia?
• How might a national research strategy be delivered?
• How should a national research strategy be funded?
• How should a national research strategy be managed?
• What should the focus of the national research strategy be?

This is a key paper for policy developers in the fields of education, training and employment. It was commissioned by the Careers Industry Council of Australia, an umbrella organisation for many organisations providing career development services in Australia and written by Professor Richard Sweet who was responsible for the career guidance policy reviews undertaken by the OECD in the period 2001-2003. The paper addresses the following questions:

• What do the terms career development services mean?
• Why are such services important for public policy?
• What evidence exists on the benefits of such services to different publics?
• What steps need to be taken to make sure that career development services assist governments to achieve public policy goals?

This is a study of the potential economic and fiscal impacts of the National Reform Agenda of the Council of Australian Governments. The National Reform Agenda includes an interlinked  human capital stream covering health, education and training, and work incentives with benefits from each area feeding into the other. The results of the study are exploratory and indicative of potential benefits.

The education and training element seeks to equip more people with the skills needed to increase workforce participation and productivity. The four areas targeted are: early childhood development; literacy and numeracy; transitions to further education and work; and adult learning. For each of the areas, discrete groups of potentially at risk individuals were selected. Indicative high-level outcomes for the transition component included increasing the proportion of young people making a smooth transition from school to work and higher education, retention in education, and higher participation in upper secondary education. General improvements in educational attainment were seen as important also for workforce participation and for health.

From both a policy and career development perspective, the study is a very useful introduction for policy makers, researchers and career guidance community leaders to interlinks between policy areas, to macro-level indicators, and to the potential benefits of smooth transitions to further education or work to which career development interventions contribute.