Despite the enduring problems of equity and access in the delivery of education in rural Australian schools, vocational education and training (VET) programs appear to have had a significant impact on many such schools and their communities. Vocational educational programs in Australia are based on structured workplace learning. There are three broad types of VET in Schools programs: 1) those that provide up to 30 days a year of unpaid on-the-job training in the workplace, without contractual arrangement, with the school responsible for all assessment; 2) school-based apprenticeships and traineeships, where students engage in a contract involving paid training with a part-time conventional employer-trainee relationship; and 3) vocational learning programs built on traditional curriculum areas and offering limited workplace experience. These are characteristic of programs in years 9 and 10. Six exemplary programs are described that demonstrate how rural VET in Schools programs have helped rejuvenate communities, address chronic youth unemployment, and confirm the role of the local school as a significant community resource. These programs have encouraged youths to stay in their rural communities rather than pursue post-compulsory education in distant urban schools. In addition, these programs often benefit marginalized youths whose experience of schooling has been unsatisfactory but who respond well to adult learning experiences in workplaces. (TD)