An approach is needed that recognizes a "system" of pathways results from an interaction between Australian pathway designs and reforms of policymakers on the one hand, and the decisions by young people and their families on the other. (Pathways are combinations of education, training, and employment activities that can be taken to acquire a certificate of type of employment.) Data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth for about 2,200 year 10 students from the late 1980s for 7 years identify hundreds of different patterns of activity in the transition from school. For the group that did not obtain tertiary qualifications, these eight pathways have been defined: (1) those who obtained a full-time job on leaving school and remained in full-time work; (2) those who gained an apprenticeship or traineeship followed by full-time work; (3) school leavers who participated in full-time further study before entering full-time employment; (4) youth who experienced a brief or extended period of unemployment, part-time work, or not in the labor force, but were in full-time work for the remainder of the time; (5) those who did the same for an extended period; (6) those who worked mainly part-time; (7) those who were unemployed for the majority of the time; and (8) those mainly not in the labor force. Other pathways were identified for those with tertiary qualifications. (YLB)