Aspects of the relative importance of work were examined in a representative sample of 700 Melbourne year-10 students. Instruments were Taylor's Work Quiz (WQ), the Values Scale (VS) and Salience Inventory (SI) developed for the international Work Importance Study, and Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI). From the WQ three basic orientations to work in this sample were identified: self-actualizing, instrumental, and necessity. Correlations between the WQ and VS scales showed the self-actualizing orientation was highly correlated to 12 intrinsic values, the instrumental scale was correlated with 17 extrinsic values, and a lack of relationships existed between the necessity orientation and the VS scales. Correlations between the WQ and SI scales showed the self-actualizing orientation had the strongest relationship with the worker role, the instrumental scale correlated positively only with the leisure scales, and no significant relationship existed betwen the SI scales and the necessity scale. No significant relationship existed between the VPI scales and the self-actualizing orientation; the instrumental orientation highly correlated with the enterprising, realistic, and conventional scales; and the necessity scale correlated with the realistic and conventional scales. These relationships supported expectations. Parallels were identified between study results and Maslow's hierarchy of needs. (YLB)