Reshaping School to Work in 2027

Students who cannot arrange work-based learning independently need more help, and stakeholders overwhelmingly agree this should be School to Work’s focus. We can use a tiered model to direct more support to students who need it.

Group career exploration activities in years 7-9 have been undervalued by the program structure, despite sometimes being more efficient and low-effort for employers than individual placements. We can put more program emphasis on group activities to support more students, while helping build employer interest.

Unclear or inconsistent roles in facilitating work-based learning have created confusion and inefficiency. External organisations are usually best-placed to build and maintain networks of employers through undertaking employer attraction, employer readiness and employer-school coordination and matching.

School staff are usually best-placed to provide career counselling, support for student readiness and case management, with support of focused programs like My Career Insights.

Funding for the School to Work program in 2027-29 will focus on:

• employer attraction – building and maintaining a network of employers to create work-based learning opportunities for school students
• employer readiness – helping employers to understand expectations and prepare to deliver a quality activity
• coordination and matching – helping school staff match students with employers as needed and make necessary arrangements for the activity.

We will seek competitive funding proposals with targets for arranging opportunities that provide value for students, schools and employers, including:

• career exploration activities with employers for students in years 7-9
• work experience and structured workplace-learning placements for students who cannot do so independently.

The reshaped program will structure targets to ensure providers are recognised for supporting employers in their program delivery area to provide opportunities students at schools in other program delivery areas.

We will establish an Equity and Innovation Fund that selected School to Work providers can apply to access, to deliver activities that improve opportunities for students facing disadvantage.

This could include resources for employers to help them prepare for students, alternative work-based learning models, or training for providers.

Distance limits the career goals that regional students can explore. Transport for work-based learning is also more costly for regional schools.

We can create more career exploration opportunities for regional students with city-based employers, and provide funding to regional government schools for work-based learning transportation.

We will reserve some work-based opportunities in Melbourne and regional centres for regional students, so they can explore a broader range of careers in Victoria.

We will also provide funding to regional schools to help cover the cost of travel to work-based learning. We will provide guidance on how to use this funding.

We will finalise the specific amount of transport and accommodation funding for each regional school near the end of 2026.

Program delivery in some areas is not meeting school or employer expectations. We can make sure the best organisation in each area is delivering School to Work by considering competitive proposals.

Currently, program funding is spread thinly across many organisations with their own overhead costs, creating inefficiencies.

We can align program delivery to the established Department of Education area structure, balancing the need for local networks and expertise with the need to direct more funding to service delivery.

The School to Work program will be structured in 17 areas aligned to the Department of Education regional model, with one 3-year funding agreement per area.

We will seek competitive funding proposals for each area. Any not-for-profit organisation will be eligible to submit a proposal to deliver School to Work in one or more of the 17 areas from 2027 to 2029.

We will provide 3-year funding agreements to make sure providers can recruit suitable staff and undertake long-term planning.

We can assist School to Work providers by communicating effectively with employers, providing resources to help employers and students get ready for placements, and providing fit-for-purpose data and processes.

We have published a new website, developed in partnership with industry, that explains types of work-based learning: Your Future Workforce Today. We will build on this website in consultation with School to Work providers.

We are exploring options for classroom resources that will help schools prepare students for work-based learning. We are also exploring options for digital tools that will facilitate School to Work delivery.