This article focuses on the career aspirations of young female Aboriginal students at high school. Its aim is to contribute to a greater understanding of these clients' needs and concerns in order to be able to not only assist them with appropriate information and contacts but to help develop an awareness of relevant issues for careers advisers. It is the thesis of this article that careers advisers who liaise with both education and vocational institutions are well placed to facilitate the career decision-making process for indigenous clients. However, too little is known about their career aspirations and their concerns with respect to career. The research was based on open-ended interviews with 12 young Aboriginal women.

In a climate of self-determination it is essential to clarify what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people themselves feel about their cultural identity and future. These voices exist in a context of the great potential in Aboriginal culture and by contrast the severe problems which Aboriginal people face.Lippman (1994) argues that, although there is some evidence of Aboriginal status becoming more equitable, education being one instance to avail self-determination, data continue to reveal that Aboriginal mortality and morbidity rates lie in stark contrast to those of the general population of Australia. The death rate for Aboriginal men and women of 35 to 44 years is eight times higher than for the average non-Aboriginal (Ferrari, 1997). Queensland Health (1996) recently reported that Cape York has yet to experience the mortality gains seen by Indigenous populations in New Zealand and North America.