Support | Scalability | Sustainability | Standards

Effective career development is crucial in the post COVID-19 recovery, successful transitions and economic growth. It can help make the best use of human resources in the labour market and education by improving matching between people's skills and interests and available opportunities for work and learning.

Career development services benefit individuals, but they also have economic and social benefits for Australia.

• If individuals make decisions about what they are to learn in a well-informed and well-thought-through way, linked to their interests, their capacities and their aspirations, and informed realistically about the opportunities to which the learning can lead, then they are likely to be more successful learners with positive outcomes.
• If people construct career paths and secure employment that utilises their potential and meet their own goals, they are likely to be more motivated and productive, contributing to enhancing national prosperity.
• As a catalyst for achieving social equity, equal opportunities and social inclusion outcomes concerning learning and work.

As education and employment policies seek to widen choices and create systems that can respond to varying needs across the lifespan, career guidance and information becomes increasingly essential for public policy.

Join us in this critical Summit as we unpack the evidence and impact of career development and explore the future of career development practice.

You will hear from respected international experts, Dr Deirdre Hughes OBE, DMH& Associates (UK) and Sareena Hopkins, Canadian Career Development Foundation present their views and ideas on the key topics.

Following the keynote presentation, our panel of key government and industry stakeholders along with professional career practitioners will discuss and unpack the presentation, focusing on the Australian context through a facilitated catalyst discussion.

Tuesday 2 March 2021

3.30pm - 5.00pm - Keynote and Catalyst Panel Discussion

Evidence and impact of career development - Dr Deirdre Hughes OBE, DMH & Associates (UK) 

The concepts of decent work, inclusion and supporting individuals to find sustainable pathways to learning and work opportunities present new opportunities and real challenges. Job roles and labour markets are changing rapidly. Job security has been abruptly and cruelly diminished for many, without warning. The impact of job losses and lives upended by the pandemic have yet to be fully realised. This presentation examines the international evidence-base underpinning career development policies and practices. It sets out what good looks like and presents robust research findings. A brief case study is presented on how the UK careers landscape in each of the four home nations is changing in response to the pandemic. Internationally, a new dawn in careers support services is emerging and this is reshaping future directions.

Catalyst Panel

Elizabeth Knight - Centre for International Research on Education Systems (CIRES), Research Fellow

Sara Caplan – PWC’s Skills for Australia, CEO

Saxon Phipps – Founder Year 13

Leela Darvall – Victorian Department of Education and Training, Manager | Learning, Teaching and Pathways Division 

Wednesday 3 March 2021 

3.30pm - 5.00pm - Keynote and Catalyst Panel Discussion

The future of career development practice - Sareena Hopkins, Canadian Career Development Foundation

In Canada, one of the most-watched current affairs series on television is called W5. Its hard-hitting investigative reporting peels the layers off issues to get at the truth. In this session, Sareena will take inspiration from this show, seeking to explore the future of our profession by delving into 5 big questions:

• WHO does our sector serve? Is it strictly the individual seeking services, or should we be thinking more broadly? And WHO should be considered qualified to practice in our field? What standards underpin our profession and are these serving us and the public well?

• WHAT is our scope of practice? Do we have common language and common boundaries with respect to “what’s in” and “what’s out” when it comes to career practice? Do those outside of our field understand our scope of practice beyond the notion that we “get people into jobs”?

• WHEN and WHERE do we deliver services? Is our current model of service delivery working effectively for our field and, more importantly, for those most in need?

• WHY do we practice? What is the impact of our work – the change we want to “be” in this world? And do we have mechanisms to prove that we are in fact making these changes?

Catalyst Panel

Jon Woodend – James Cook University, Lecturer, Guidance and Counselling, Career Development, Education

Amanda McCue – Professional Career Development Practitioner

Mary McMahon – The University of Queensland, Honorary Associate Professor School of Education

Please be advised that each session of the Summit is ticketed separately.