The extent and nature of Australia's school-industry programs in 1996 were examined through a survey of 1,868 government and nongovernment schools and programs. It was conducted using a questionnaire similar to that which had been used in 1995. According to the 1,453 completed questionnaires (response rate 78%) by 11th and 12th grade students, 62% of schools provided school-industry programs in 1996 (16% more than in 1995). Programs with fewer than 10 days in the workplace were increasing fastest. Of the programs with more than 20 days in the workplace, 29% were in schools located in low or very low socioeconomic areas and 17% were in very high socioeconomic areas. No relationship between distribution of programs across industry groups and duration of work placements was detected. Rates of participation in school-industry programs by business size were as follows: microbusiness, 30%; small business, 31%; medium business, 22%; and large business, 17%. As in 1995, nearly all programs involved work placements during normal school days or a mixture of school days and time outside of school. In 77% of programs, supervisors trained students during their work placements. Fourteen percent of programs had formal arrangements for helping graduating students find jobs or places in further education, and 48% had informal arrangements. (Contains forty tables/figures and 32 references. The questionnaires are appended.) (MN)