Definitely think careers ed could be significantly improved. What we have at my school at the moment is much better than what i've seen.
I know when I was in high school the advice I got (now I look back on it) was pretty crap - I'm glad I didn't listen and went with my gut.
They have a hard gig given the ask of year 12 students at a crucial time in their lives - with the stresses of VCE, the added pressure of being made to pick preferences for a course sucks.
I think there definitely needs to be more emphasis earlier on in terms of elective choices as exploration of potential areas rather than just doing elective x y or z for the sake of it. Year 9 and 10 is a crucial time period for students for a number of reasons - electives mentioned along with work experience and careers counselling. More has to be put into these two year levels to at least get some interests flowing for each student - it might reduce the 'what the hell do I pick' thoughts.
I think university visits that groups of students from a school do as part of the careers program is crucial as well - apart from Open Days, there isn't much prior engagement with universities and what they have to offer. Sure, websites provide information but sometimes they're hard to navigate and sometimes face-to-face interaction, explanation and brochures give insights an online website can't provide.
Anyway, that's just from my experiences so far.