Suite 401, 52-58 William St

Woolloomooloo NSW, 2011 Australia

Youth Action is the peak organisation representing young people and youth services

in NSW. Our work helps build the capacity of young people, youth workers and youth

services, and we advocate for positive change on issues affecting these groups.

It is the role of Youth Action to:

1. Respond to social and political agendas relating to young people and the youth service sector.

.............................................................................................................................................................

2. Provide proactive leadership and advocacy to shape the agenda on issues affecting young people and youth services.

.............................................................................................................................................................

3. Collaborate on issues that affect young people and youth workers.

.............................................................................................................................................................

4. Promote a positive profile in the media and the community of young people and youth services.

.............................................................................................................................................................

5. Build capacity for young people to speak out and take action on issues that affect them.

.............................................................................................................................................................

6. Enhance the capacity of the youth services sector to provide high quality services.

.............................................................................................................................................................

7. Ensure Youth Action’s organisational development, efficiency, effectiveness and good governance.

Youth Action acknowledges and pays respect to the traditional owners of the land,

past, present and future, across NSW. We are committed to a positive future for

Aboriginal young people and their communities. The Youth Action office is located

upon the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and we acknowledge their

traditional custodianship.

This report outlines each of the key actions the NSW

Government needs to take across a range of issues

that impact young people.

Youth Action, as the peak body for young people and

youth services in NSW, has 30 years of expertise and

experience working with young people and the youth

support sector in NSW to ensure young people are

supported, engaged and valued in our society.

Youth Action advocates for change for young people

in NSW, particularly young people who are excluded

or experience disadvantage. With young people and

youth support services, we have identified a number

of changes that the NSW government must make

to improve the lives of young people. Our work is

informed by significant primary research, consultation

and engaging with thousands of young people and

hundreds of youth services.

Young people are experts in their own experience,

and their views are essential to solving the challenges

for young people and their communities. Their views

should not only be heard, but be influential – taken into

account on matters than impact their lives at all levels.

This principle underpins each of the key actions for the

NSW Government.

Young people are of critical importance to the NSW community.

ENDNOTES

abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3101.0Mar%20

2018?OpenDocument

Currently, there is no Minister for Young People in

Cabinet to represent the specific needs of young people

across portfolios. Renewing this portfolio is pivotal to

changing the story for young people and to ensure that

young people are part of central government decision

making mechanisms. We need bi-partisan commitment

from all sides of politics for a Minster for Young People

with a corresponding portfolio.

Youth Action is calling on all parties to commit to a

Minster for Young People with a corresponding portfolio,

to commit to the actions in this report, and to make NSW

a better place for young people.

CEO

NSW can be a place where all young people are valued,

engaged and supported. Right now, while many young people

in NSW are doing well, there are many more who consistently

do not get the support they need, or who do not have

opportunity to reach their potential.

The experiences young people have at this stage of

development will have life-long impact. It is imperative that

young people thrive now, not only because of the impact this

has on the communities of the future, because they are a

valued part of the community today.

The NSW Government can choose to make NSW the best

possible place for young people, particularly those who

experience intersectional and compounding disadvantage and exclusion.

There are 10 fundamental changes young people need.

AS DETAILED IN ‘A NSW FOR YOUNG PEOPLE: BEYOND 2019’ YOUTH ACTION IS CALLING ON ALL PARTIES TO:

REINTRODUCE REAL REPRESENTATION

OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN GOVERNMENT

IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES

FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

mental health help and care that is timely

and youth-specific.

PROTECT YOUNG PEOPLE AND CARE LEAVERS IN NSW TO GROW UP HEALTHILY, HAPPILY AND SAFELY

protection and support.

young people to address issues before they

become a crisis.

people who wish to stay beyond 18.

support and skills they need to succeed.

ENABLE ALL YOUNG PEOPLE TO HAVE A SAFE AND AFFORDABLE PLACE TO CALL HOME

CREATE AN EDUCATION SYSTEM

THAT EQUIPS YOUNG PEOPLE FOR

THEIR FUTURE

Support Officer.

young people and their education outcomes.

educational equality.

ACHIEVE EXCELLENT AND AFFORDABLE POST SCHOOL PATHWAYS

effective career guidance.

and Training.

CHANGE THE STORY ON YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT

100 days of government.

keep work.

MAKE NSW A SAFE STATE FOR YOUNG

PEOPLE

priority in NSW secondary schools.

and family violence can access the right support.

KEEP YOUNG PEOPLE OUT OF PRISON

community-led solutions.

their full extent.

in NSW to at least 14 years.

detention, as a last resort, safe for young people.

RESOURCE A JOINED-UP NSW YOUTH

DEVELOPMENT SECTOR TO BE

ACCESSIBLE TO ALL YOUNG PEOPLE

need across the continuum.

and respond to local need, including through

outcomes frameworks.

Young people should live happy,

healthy and fulfilled lives that give

them a strong foundation for their

mental wellbeing. However, young

people are particularly at risk of poor

mental health and, at the moment,

we are not responding quickly or

effectively enough.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

mental health service system that

coordinates care from prevention to

early intervention, through to clinical

and specialist care. This should prioritise

gaps experienced by young people from

regional, rural and remote areas, who are

Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, or who

are LGBTI young people.

suicide prevention plan in

consultation with children and young

people. This should include a culturallyappropriate,

community-led and targeted

Aboriginal plan.

system that acts to eliminate or subsidise

transport barriers that prevent young

people getting help.

aid for GPs, frontline workers, and people

who have high contact with young people.

which recognise that young people often

turn to friends first, and their friends

should be equipped to help out.

who died by suicide in

2016 were from NSW.

turn to friends for help

Young people should live happy, healthy and fulfilled

lives that give them a strong foundation for their mental

wellbeing. However, young people are particularly at risk

of poor mental health and, at the moment, we are not

responding quickly or effectively enough.

Young people also live with mental illnesses every day.

Mental health issues are associated with social and

economic disadvantages, such as impaired academic

achievement and school attendance, hindered social

development, unemployment and housing instability.

Young people are particularly at risk:

psychological stress that indicate a probable

When young people are struggling with their mental

health, they are prone to self-isolation and behaviours

Only 9.9% of mental health expenditure by States and

Territories in the year 2010–2011 was directed at child

and adolescent mental health programs, and only 0.2%

One of the most frightening aspects of youth mental

health is the growing rates of suicide. Suicide is the

primary cause of death among young people in Australia

and the number of young Australians who have died

by suicide as the result of a mental health condition

of intentional self-harm are estimated to be between

40–100 times greater than the number of young people

Suicide remains a critical issue. More young people die

people aged 15–24 died by suicide, with 45% of those

Torres Strait Islander people aged 15–24 were around

four times more likely than non-Indigenous Australians

Youth Action undertook significant primary research

in 2017 consulting and engaging with young people,

youth support services, and frontline workers providing

mental health services in metropolitan, regional and

remote areas. This research demonstrated that the

current mental health system is segmented, outdated

and adult-centric. This makes it difficult for young people

to navigate, and the limited youth-focus is alienating.

The inaccessibility of services means young people

go without the support they need, and don’t develop

Young people living remotely are more likely to experience

isolation, poverty and a lack of services, and often have a

strong culture of self-reliance that discourages help-seeking

young people who live outside of major cities and increase

should be a specific focus on those in rural and regional

areas. Youth service workers, frontline staff and other

health professionals consistently report waits of up to three

Because regional young people struggle with service

availability, youth mental health providers such as

headspace, ReachOut and Kids Helpline have successfully

introduced e-mental health solutions. While these

cannot substitute for in-person counselling, they are

extremely effective at providing information, support, and

assessment, and can assist prevention and management

of symptoms. They have the benefit of a high degree

of anonymity, meaning they are often useful early

identification and referral tools.

Stigma continues to be a concern for young people. Four

out of five young people in Australia think that people

their age will not seek support for anxiety or depression

because they are worried about what other people will

services helps young people overcome stigma and

reluctance to seek help.

But there is a lot that can be done to improve outcomes

for young people. Intervention can be particularly

people experience a key period of rapid and extensive

psychological and biological growth, ‘second only to early

childhood in the rate and breadth of developmental

to a range of risks. During such an important period

of growth, risks can become embedded or averted.

Interventions during adolescence can decrease the

adverse long-term impacts of, for example, violence and

Many of the mental health and wellbeing challenges faced

by adults can be traced to adolescence or young adulthood

and intervening early in a person’s life and providing them

with support and capacity-building when mental health

concerns begin to emerge significantly decreases the

intervention can achieve the best outcomes for young

people and can limit negative outcomes, such as the onset

We commend the work of Government through successive

suicide prevention strategies, collaboration with federal

suicide prevention and mental health strategies and

programs and the establishment of youth health services

in Local Health Districts. However, improved coordination,

funding and targeted programming are required to make

sure we stem the increase of poor mental health among

young people and vulnerable groups in NSW, and ensure

they get the help they need when they need it.

The NSW can act to prevent poor youth mental health

and suicide. Improving access to youth-specific mental

health and suicide prevention services for young people,

to address the complex mental health needs that are

currently overlooked. Without significant funding and

attention, the rates will not decrease.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

service system that coordinates a spectrum of care

from prevention to early intervention, through to

clinical and specialist care. This should prioritise gaps

experienced by regional, rural and remote young

people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young

people, as well as LGBTI young people.

prevention plan in consultation with children and

young people. This should include a culturallyappropriate,

community-led and targeted

Aboriginal plan.

that acts to eliminate or subsidise transport barriers

that prevent young people getting help.

frontline workers, and people who have high contact

with young people.

recognise that young people often turn to friends first,

and their friends should be equipped to help out.

ENDNOTES

health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/

A24556C814804A99CA257BF0001CAC45/$File/mhaust2.pdf>

au.reachout.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/ReachOut.com-

ReachOut Australia and Mission Australia, Sydney, p 7.

health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/

A24556C814804A99CA257BF0001CAC45/$File/mhaust2.pdf>

via: <https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/

Content/9DA8CA21306FE6EDCA257E2700016945/%24File/child2.pdf>, p. 4.

Content/7E7B15F442156327CA257BF0001E4714/$File/young.

<https://nswmentalhealthcommission.com.au/sites/default/files/

publication-documents/Final%20Report%20-%20AHURI%20-%20

9 Mission Australia, 2015, Young People’s Mental Health Over the

Years: Youth Survey 2012–2014, p.21.

www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20

Subject/3303.0~2013~Media%20Release~Changes%20in%20

Australia’s%20leading%20causes%20of%20death%20(Media%20

Release)~10041>

au/sites/default/files/document/publication/Children%27s%20

Rights%20Report%202014_2.pdf>

youthbeyondblue.com/footer/stats-and-facts>

gov.au/resources/workforce/>

www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20

Subject/3303.0~2013~Media%20Release~Changes%20in%20

Australia’s%20leading%20causes%20of%20death%20(Media%20

Release)~10041>

youthaction.org.au/youth_suicide_submission>

17 Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Radio National, Radio

National Afternoons, March 2 2015, ‘Landmark Study Reveals Rural

and Remote Communities Are Missing Out On Essential Mental

programs/rnafternoons/rural-mental-health/6274578

2 March 2015, ‘Landmark Study Reveals Rural and Remote

Communities Are Missing Out On Essential Mental Health Services’,

rnafternoons/rural-mental-health/6274578>

20 ibid.

Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), Canberra, p. 21.

23 Patel et al., 2007, ‘Mental health of young people: a global public

All young people have the right to be safe and to receive

loving care and support. Young people also have a right to

receive the services they need to enable them to succeed in life.

However, in NSW the number of children and young people entering care is

increasing, which places more pressure on the system. As a result, young people

who need help often don’t get it. The numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander children and young people entering care have increased and continue

to be significantly overrepresented in the care population. Young people who

leave care have significantly poor outcomes.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

practice framework, and a strategy that

articulates a strong commitment specifically

to at risk young people, including Aboriginal

young people, with measures to track progress

and provide accountability.

and early intervention over a five-year period,

including programs for prevention and early

intervention for young people aged 12–25

in NSW.

to 21, for young people who wish to stay

beyond 18, as recommended by the Home

supports attached in relation to housing,

education, employment, life skills, mental

health and peer support, and adequate

assistance for carers.

to transition to independence and invest in

quality monitoring of agencies’ compliance

with these policies.

children in NSW receiving

child protection services,

aged 15–17 years,

significantly less

than the

16,003

Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander children are

ten times

more likely to be placed in

Investigation by the NSW Ombudsman in 2014 reported that

‘a higher proportion

of reports about

adolescents were

often receiving

59,092

7,142

16,003

Young people have the right to a response when they

require care and protection, and intervention can

reap both personal and systemic rewards. Yet, as a

consequence of additional pressure on the system,

young people who are at risk and who need support

don’t get it. It is very clear from a range of systems

reviews, government policy statements, data sets, and

through evidence provided from youth support services

that young people at risk in NSW are not receiving a

sufficient systemic response.

Young people in NSW often are not receiving a statutory

child protection intervention when it is needed. Aside

from a statutory response, when a young person comes

into contact with the system – whether they are reported

as at Risk of Significant Harm (ROSH) or below ROSH

– there should be mechanisms in place that trigger a

the support they need.

As a result, the youth support sector is working with

an increasing number of complex clients without the

appropriate recognition or funding. This has flow-on

effects as to how well NSW can stop the escalation of

young people in crisis while early intervention services

are increasingly dealing with complex and crisis clients.

There is also tension between children and young

people the child protection system of NSW. There

is no shortage of evidence that demonstrates the

impact of the first years of life on lifelong health and

people experience a key period of rapid and extensive

psychological and biological growth, ‘second only to early

childhood in the rate and breadth of developmental

to a range of risks. During such an important period

of growth, risks can become embedded or averted.

Interventions during adolescence can decrease the

adverse long-term impacts of, for example, violence and

can serve to protect vulnerable young people from the

worst of poor social outcomes, such as involvement in

justice systems, homelessness, unemployment and poor

mental health.

This tension is reflected, but not well addressed, in

NSW’s child protection systems. While NSW has provided

important investment in the early years of life, policy

and strategy has not kept pace with the evidence base

around adolescent intervention. This is also true of the

child protection system; when prioritisation is necessary,

very young children are considered a high priority

while young people are not. Despite strong evidence

on the importance of life cycles and the effectiveness

of intervention both in early childhood as well as

adolescence, it is clear from data, as well as reports from

those who work on the ground with young people that

are ‘older,’ young people such as those aged 14–17 are

not well supported across the child protection system.

The 2011 Child Rights report further highlights the

unmet need for young people, stating: ‘There is a lack of

government attention to older children and adolescents.

This is most evident in the “buck-passing” between

community services and youth justice authorities

when children in need of care come into contact

with the criminal justice system, the lack of adequate

accommodation options for older children, and the

abuse of children even after they have been the subject

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and

young people are vastly over-represented in the child

protection system. Multiple inquiries have reinforced the

consistent and enduring issues of the child protection

system in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

young people. Many of the 54 recommendations

reconciliation, as well as addressing the policies and

practices around contemporary removals of Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander children and young people

from their families, remain unrealised almost 20

years later.

The asserted principle of self-determination for

Indigenous peoples is the key to reversing the overrepresentation

of Indigenous children in the child

welfare system and to eliminating unjustified removals of

NSW has the highest rate of removals in Australia,

with approximately one in ten Aboriginal and Torres

While FaCS has made efforts to address this, such as

inclusion, accountability and monitoring processes

reduce the disproportionate rate of removals. The

facts of contemporary separation highlight a need for

fundamental change in child protection legislation, policy

and practice.

Young people should get timely and appropriate support

services, even if it’s not a statutory response, when

they’re reported at risk of harm.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

framework, and a strategy that articulates a strong

commitment specifically to at risk young people,

including Aboriginal young people, with measures to

track progress and provide accountability.

We need to make sure that every preventative effort

has been made so that removing a child or young

person from a family is a last resort. Prevention and

early intervention is critical to reduce the increasing

“protecting children” merely as a response to abuse and

neglect to one of promoting the safety and wellbeing

It is well documented that prevention and early

intervention are both more effective in achieving

positive outcomes and a stronger investment. As put

by Allen and Smith, ‘The two public policy strengths of

Early Intervention are firstly that it is less expensive and

second it is more effective than late intervention. It is no

longer viable to take ever increasing amounts of taxation

from the public to deal with the ever-increasing impact

Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY),

‘expenditure on late intervention and crisis response is

becoming unsustainable – rising demand and increasing

complexity is creating significant long-term challenges

It is clear that the tertiary intervention to protect

children and young people from harm is not adequately

resourced. Nor does this give basis for a reduction or

removal of funding from young people in crisis. It must,

however, be recognised that there is a very real risk of

the continual growth of young people in crisis, because

support to prevent, intervene early or mitigate crisis is

neglected. In NSW, while there are positive indications

about early intervention, the rhetoric fails to shift to real

financial commitment.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

early intervention over a five-year period, including

programs for prevention and early intervention for

young people aged 12–25 in NSW.

Young people leaving care are some of the most

vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in Australia.

In the first year of leaving care, 35% of young people

are homeless, only 35% complete Year 12, 29% are

unemployed, and 46% of males are involved in the youth

In the past six months, Tasmania, Victoria, South

Australia and Western Australia have all committed to

or started implementing policies to extend support for

Analysis from Deloitte found that compared with

18-year-old care leavers, those staying in care until 21

were half as likely to become homeless, 24% less likely

to suffer mental illness and 13% less likely to be drug

While extending out-of-home care is an excellent option

for many young people, the NSW government needs to

continue to improve its transition planning outcomes

so that young people not only have, are aware of, and

are happy with their leaving care plan, but that it goes

beyond a piece of paper and ensures that young people

have the skills and relationships in place to thrive

independent of care.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

for young people who wish to stay beyond 18, as

There should be adequate supports attached

in relation to housing, education, employment,

life skills, mental health and peer support, and

adequate assistance for carers.

to transition to independence and invest in

quality monitoring of agencies’ compliance with

these policies.

ENDNOTES

1 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2016, ‘Child Protection

p. 71.

2 ibid, p. 33.

au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/15691/Review-of-the-NSW-childprotection-

2–5.

4 http://thehomestretch.org.au/

shaping_better_child_protection>

Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), Canberra, p. 21.

7 ibid.

9 ibid. p.15

London, UK, p.113.

Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), Canberra, p. 2.

17 ibid., p. 32.

18 Marchese D, 2018, ‘Supporting foster kids until 21 would slash

au/triplej/programs/hack/extending-state-care-to-21-to-slashhomelessness/

10422602>

19 Michael L, 2018, ‘Longer foster care would cut suffering and save

care-cut-suffering-save-millions-study-finds/>

commissioned by Home Stretch Campaign NSW, Sydney, accessed

NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

Support first home buyers by:

that Australia needs.

speculators by resetting the tax system.

Secure a better deal for renters by:

NSW Rental Tenancies Act 2010

for rentals to stop discrimination.

Plan to end homelessness by:

including the lack of affordable housing,

poverty and family violence.

and help them stay there.

Aboriginal people among the homeless.

in negotiation with federal, state and territory

governments by taking action to prevent

homelessness and delivering rapid access to

the housing and support people need if they

do lose their own home.

programs that identify young people at risk

before they reach crisis point.

services that include wrap-around support

based on models designed and proven to

work with young people

In the last ten years in

NSW, homelessness

amongst young

people aged 18–24 has

In 2016, there were

people experiencing

people under 24

continue to experience

Every young person in NSW should have

an affordable and secure place to call

home. Housing impacts on all aspects of

a young person’s life such as health and

wellbeing, access to education and skill

development, and work opportunities.

For young people in NSW, high rental costs, low

incomes, insecure share housing, and the lack of

affordable housing and social housing stock all make

having a place to live a challenge. While some young

people are staying at home for longer, others don’t have the option.

Stable, affordable and suitable housing is necessary to

ensure a young person’s economic, mental, physical

and social wellbeing early in life. It is also connected to

a positive sense of self, good health, social cohesion

and educational completion. However, in NSW it is

notoriously difficult for young people to attain stable

housing and they are increasingly becoming long-term

renters because rising housing prices lock them out of

the market. Young people in NSW should have access to

stable, affordable and appropriate housing options, and

rarely find themselves at risk of homelessness.

When it comes to accessing housing generally, young

people face barriers and discrimination. High rental

costs, low incomes, insecure share housing, and the lack

of affordable housing and social housing stock all make

independent living a challenge for many young people.

While some young people are staying at home for

longer, for others this simply is not an option.

MORE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE RENTING IN AN INCREASINGLY UNAFFORDABLE AND INSECURE MARKET

young people are renting. With a generation potentially

destined to be ‘permanent renters,’ renting needs to be

affordable, safe and secure. There was a 14.1% increase

in young households renting (aged between 15–24

households headed by 15–24-year-olds in Australia were

The rental market is also becoming increasingly

unviable for young people due to problems with the

affordability and stability of renting in NSW. According

to the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute

(AHURI), four out of five ‘very low-income’ households

67,000 rental properties surveyed were ‘affordable’ to a

Young people also tend to be low income earners.

Young people are at a point in their lives in which they

are employed part-time or casually, in part to enable

flexibility for study commitments or to undertake

apprenticeships. On average, those in full-time

employment earn between $600–$900 per week, and

those in part-time employment earn around $180–

young people under 24 continue to experience housing

stress even after receiving government-funded rental

financial stress, with 50% of young people aged 18–29

This lack of affordable housing has resulted in

concerning trends such as overcrowding, shared

accommodation and informal leases. Rental

accommodation is insecure in tenure, and young people

are seen by landlords as ‘risky.’ As a result, it becomes

increasingly difficult for young people to access what

little affordable rental accommodation there is.

Discrimination is real for young people in the

rental market. In a nationally representative survey,

young people were 14% more likely to experience

discrimination in relation to their age and were more

likely to say they were discriminated against (55%)

In NSW, the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 allows

landlords to evict tenants without requiring a reason.

While recent changes to NSW legislation has been

positive for renters, unfair ‘no grounds’ evictions and

room for discrimination still exist. Research shows that

8% of Australians have experienced a ‘no grounds’

legal loopholes leave renters, especially young renters,

vulnerable to housing instability and discrimination.

Another significant issue is the short-term nature

of rental tenancies. Over two million people rent in

NSW, and it is estimated that 83% are on a no fixed

housing that Australia needs.

speculators by resetting the tax system.

Rental Tenancies Act 2010.

for rentals to stop discrimination.

YOUTH HOMELESSNESS IS INCREASING

Housing and rental unaffordability and insecurity are

some of the factors that have increased the risk of

youth homelessness. Young people are particularly

experience homelessness in NSW than in any other

state, and in 2016 there were 9,048 young people

Young people are overrepresented in the homelessness

population, representing approximately 25% of the

figures are also generally accepted as vastly

underestimated, with ongoing difficulties in accounting

for those who are, for example, couch surfing or living

in overcrowded accommodation.

Homelessness does not affect every young person

equally and particular groups face higher risks. It is

therefore essential that housing and homelessness

services are culturally appropriate and aware of needs

that are specific to particular groups.

Homelessness amongst young people costs Australia

an estimated $747 million extra per year in costs to the

medical and criminal justice systems. This is in addition

Providing better pathways into safe and secure longterm

housing will not only benefit young people, it will

also benefit governments and community in the form of significant cost savings.

Ensuring that all young people have access to safe, secure

housing requires a response from many areas, including

federal and state government, the education system and

employment providers. It will encompass working within

an early intervention model with families and schools,

addressing overall housing affordability, and ensuring

better transitions out of government institutions such as

juvenile justice, psychiatric hospital and OOHC.

Young people require a different model of support and

placed to support the complex needs and vulnerability

of young people who do not have a safe and stable place

to live. Given the importance of adolescence and early

adulthood for development, it is vital that intervention

into homelessness occur as early as possible. Early

intervention, outreach, rapid rehousing and ongoing

support will greatly assist young people to transition

out of homelessness. This should involve partnering with

schools, other educational institutions, the community

and youth organisations, to identify young people who

are at risk of homelessness early.

Generalist youth services are essential services in relation

to preventing and intervening early for young people at

risk of homelessness. Their role is to form relationships

and provide service to enhance the protective assets in

young people’s lives, as well as support them intensively

in times of need. These services are different to the

specialist programs that provide housing and support

to attain housing. Despite this, young people approach

youth services for support for housing and homelessness.

Services also work with correlates of homelessness

including particularly family breakdown, family/household

violence and relationship breakdown or violence; but also

drug and alcohol support needs, mental health needs,

and needs associated with exclusion from education,

Homeless young people, rental stress and poverty, as

well as the decrease in homeownership, are interrelated

products of poor housing affordability.

the lack of affordable housing, poverty and

family violence.

help them stay there.

Aboriginal people.

negotiation with federal, state and territory

governments, by taking action to prevent

homelessness and delivering rapid access to the

housing and support people need if they do lose

their own home.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

crisis point.

that include wrap-around support based on models

designed and proven to work with young people.

ENDNOTES

news-and-media/media-releases/>

news-and-media/media-releases/>

www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-governmentservices/

2016/housing-and-homelessness/rogs-2016-volumeghousing-

4 Chalkley-Rhoden S, 2017, ‘Home ownership in Australia in decline

home-ownership-in-australia-declines-for-decades/8677190?f

bclid=IwAR3HJO28KL7lfdSU0HZ4f8npGBxCn99mlWGHnDUGouVfllahpFdfXOzpPM>

6 ibid.

7 Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, 2015, ‘How great

is the shortage of affordable housing in Australia’s private rental

Anglicare Australia, Canberra.

9 ABS, 2012, ‘Average weekly earnings (a), By age group’, graph,

www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20

Subject/1301.0~2012~Main%20Features~Earnings~299>

10 AHRUI, 2015, op.cit.

www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-governmentservices/

2016/housing-and-homelessness/rogs-2016-volumeghousing-

12 Scutt D, 2017, ‘More than half of young Australians have

com.au/more-than-half-of-young-australians-haveproblems-

paying-bills-or-buying-basic-necessities-2017-

6?fbclid=IwAR0kqvTdWMxbs8cwNuq-Z_2jPlHb756hn0yCkWG0E_

eWtrrMrFuCIZrMe7I>

13 Choice, National Shelter & National Association of Tenant

property/renting/articles/choice-rental-market-report>

14 ibid., p. 18.

15 ibid., p.9

17 Power J, 2018, ‘’You can see it in their eyes’: The hardest thing about

eyes-the-hardest-thing-about-being-homeless-20180417-

p4za5d.html>

DetailsPage/2049.02011?OpenDocument>

DetailsPage/3101.0Dec%202014?OpenDocument>

22 Youth Work Snapshot 2011,

Young people in NSW should enjoy

full access to affordable and quality

education that meets their current

needs and prepares them for the future.

This means moving beyond a ‘bricks and

mortar’ approach to school investment,

and ensuring all young people are

engaged and supported to learn.

It’s clear that young people need additional support

to stay engaged in school, and we need to make sure

that those who need the most support aren’t excluded

from education entirely. Transitions from school

are a challenging time, and its vital that pathways

from school to higher education training or work are

excellent, affordable and the right fit for the future.

20%

not attending school,

two-thirds

of jobs will be

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

Student Support Officers across NSW, with

changes to the funding model to allow for

more equitable access for schools, particularly

in areas of high need and for regional, rural

and remote areas.

school exclusion statistics and make their

disciplinary policies publicly available.

cases on a regular basis to ensure schools

are using suspension as a safeguard and

last resort.

in both a school context and in working with

young people to review school suspensions

and ensure all young people have access to

supportive and quality education.

require NSW schools to systematically identify

the students who require individualised

intervention and support, and track practice,

progress, and outcomes in relation to

these students, including mechanisms for

identifying those who require escalation to

in schools and appropriate funding for

students with a disability.

staff coupled with appropriate polices and

frameworks to ensure greater outcomes.

Education is a key determinant of a young person’s

economic, social and emotional development, and is

crucial for establishing a sense of identity and place in

the world. Young people have the right to an education

that effectively prepares them for the present and the

future, that is high-quality, affordable, safe and supportive

and meets their individual and diverse needs. Education

encompasses life-long learning that supports young

people to develop socially, intellectually, physically and

emotionally, as well as to engage in the labour market.

Across NSW there are over 3,000 government (public) and

non-government (Independent and Catholic systemic)

schools in NSW, supporting over 1.1 million primary and

However, some young people are neither engaged in

education or training. The school retention rate for NSW

is one of the lowest across Australia, and although young

people are increasingly at school, some are disengaging

attaining a Year 12 qualification, and 25% are neither

Other research estimates that 20% of young people

are not attending school, and a further 20% do not feel

participation in education are below those of many

other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and

Inequalities in educational outcomes persist in NSW. Young

people from low SES, Aboriginal or from rural backgrounds

as well as young people with disabilities continue to be at a

Education systems in NSW need to address the barriers

that prevent some young people from education and

schooling that meets their needs. In addition, there

should be a particular focus on ensuring outcomes for

those experiencing disadvantage and those disengaging

from traditional delivery methods.

STUDENT SUPPORT OFFICERS

There is a significant body of research that shows links

between a school’s emphasis on wellbeing and positive

provides schools with services such as psychologists,

school counsellors and Student Support Officers (SSO).

for wellbeing services, and of 3,000 public schools

only 381 have access to funding. From 2018–2020

funding was allocated to the Student Wellbeing Support

Program, a three-year program of $7,000 annually to

assist schools to fund the employment of a student

wellbeing support officer.

Youth Action’s consultation with members showed that the

wellbeing programs in schools can be inconsistent, with:

periods of time.

as long wait lists or high rates of non-attendance at

counsellor sessions.

of class to see a counsellor.

progress past what can be handled by a school

counsellor.

learning support in classrooms.

can support student wellbeing.

program, schools in NSW have the discretion to

employ SSOs. The initiative aimed to provide support

to secondary students, with a particular focus on

reaching and engaging more vulnerable students to

enhance protective factors such as supporting positive

relationships, building resilience as well as providing

support with issues such as stress, mental health,

An independent review of SSOs found that there is

overwhelming support for the SSO initiative from

principals, school staff, SSOs, students and external

reported having sought the help of the SSO.

safer place.

including cyberbullying, 91% said it improved student

behaviour, and 77% said it had improved academic

The review also found that SSOs complement (rather

than duplicate) the existing range of wellbeing provisions

in the schools and link the school with agencies and

communities. Other research has found resistance and

negative experiences amongst students to approaching

young people reach out for help when they need it,

and the review of SSOs demonstrate they bridge a gap

between no support and crisis intervention.

Since the end of the pilot period, the Department of

Education has provided $51 million for wellbeing, the

equivalent of 200 SSOs. However, the Department

no longer provides centralised support, training and

coordination of SSOs. As a decentralised group, this

leaves these positions subject to isolation, high stress

and turn-over, all of which compromise the effectiveness

and outcomes of the program, a serious threat

considering its proven success.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

funding for Student Support Officers across NSW,

with changes to the funding model to allow for

more equitable access for schools, particularly

in areas of high need and for regional, rural and

remote areas.

SUSPENSION

School should also be a safe and happy place for

students, and they should only be excluded from this

learning environment as a last resort. Suspension is

a tool used by schools to manage behaviour but it

is exclusionary, ineffective and significantly disrupts

the learning of a young person. It can have significant

and negative impacts on young people. Suspension

disproportionately disrupts the education of students

with cognitive/learning impairments, students with

a child protection/OOHC history, and Aboriginal

decreased by 2.5% between 2013 and 2015, there

has been no significant change in long suspensions

or in the number of students receiving short and/or

One key driver for student disengagement is school

people often present with challenging behaviours,

and while it is increasingly understood that they are

a symptom of emotional or behavioural disorders

and experience, suspension is still commonly

used to manage such manifesting behaviours in a

school environment.

Generally, suspension is understood to have two

core purposes – to remove threats to the safety and

wellbeing of the school community and to punish

the offender. The end result is supposed to be

better behavior or a reversal of a trend. Normally

a ’zero tolerance’ policy towards disruptive behavior

warranting suspension is intended to have positive and

immediate effects, as well as act as a deterrent. Yet it is

clear that the negative impact on students outweighs

any benefits from this policy.

As stated by Department of Education Employment

and Work Relations (DEEWR): ‘Suspension is an

indication that something has gone grievously wrong.

It is a process of exclusion directly at odds with the

philosophy of inclusion which appears consistently in

national and Departmental statements of policy and

confirmed that ‘there is no research evidence that

the use of suspensions reduces disruptive classroom

behaviour, and the research indicates that it can

have detrimental consequences, including increased

recurrence of the problem behaviour, lower scores

in academic achievement, lower school retention

rates, increased likelihood of involvement with the

youth justice system, and poor long-term health and

Presently, students can be issued with a short

suspension of up to and including four days, or a

long suspension, up to and including 20 days at the

suspensions have been on the rise in NSW.

Suspension has been proven to be ineffective in

tackling problematic behaviour in students. For

example, 73% of students have said that suspensions

‘did little’ or ‘did not help at all’ to solve the problem

engagement, jeopardises relationships and academic

performance and is proven to increase the likelihood

of students being incarcerated later in life – a trend

known as the school-to-prison pipeline.

School suspension disproportionately affects

Indigenous students, students from rural areas,

students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and

short suspensions and 17,640 long suspensions

Aboriginal students, despite only constituting 7% of

instances, so students are often suspended multiple

times. The average long suspension is 11.5 days,

meaning students have their learning significantly

The NSW Ombudsman found that to ‘identify and

develop appropriately targeted and intensive

individualised supports requires skills that would

be uncommon among many school staff.’ The NSW

Ombudsman also found that schools need ‘assistance

that both: a) delivers appropriate expertise, and

b) provides strategies that are practical for the

of a student puts other students or faculty members

at risk of harm. While there are plenty of examples

of good practice, the fact that Aboriginal young

people, young people with a history of trauma and

young people with disability are overrepresented

in suspension practices demonstrates that practice

and policy can be improved. In place of suspensions,

schools should implement alternative disciplinary

practices that prioritise inclusion for students who are

at risk. A suspension of a student should then, as a tool

of last resort, be used as a mechanism to give support

to the student.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

exclusion statistics and make their disciplinary

policies publicly available.

on a regular basis to ensure schools are using

suspension as a safeguard and last resort.

school context and in working with young people, to

review school suspensions to ensure all young people

have access to supportive and quality education.

NSW schools to systematically identify the students

who require individualised intervention and support,

and track practice, progress, and outcomes in

relation to these students, including mechanisms

for identifying those who require escalation to

DISABILITY IN SCHOOLS

Nearly 12% of NSW students have disability, and 75%

of these students attend mainstreams schools and are

This is largely because the current system does not

meet the needs of students with disability or supply the

resources to encourage their full participation in the

school experience.

Youth Action supports the review of current student

at a state-wide level to determine its effectiveness. It is

also vital that young people should be consulted and

involved in these reviews.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

schools and appropriate funding for students

with a disability.

coupled with appropriate polices and frameworks

to ensure greater outcomes.

ENDNOTES

uploads/2015/11/Dusseldorp_Forum_The_Case_for_

Inclusive_Learning1.pdf>

org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/fya-future-of-work-reportfinal-

International Research on Education Systems, Victoria University,

www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/

Educational-opportunity-in-Australia-2015-Who-succeeds-andwho-

www.ombo.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/47241/NSWOmbudsman-

Inquiry-into-behaviour-management-in-schools.

5 Productivity Commission, 2017, ‘Chapter 4: School Education’,

Australia, Canberra.

Lookup/3101.0Main+Features1Sep%202016?OpenDocument>

images/stories/PDF/2015_Statistical_Bulletin_v8.pdf>

8 A Wierenga and J Taylor, op.cit., p. 11.

9 ibid., p. 4.

10 ibid.

11 Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), 2013,

p. 20.

uploads/2015/08/HYPAF-2011-Full_Report.pdf>

getresultsupdate5.pdf>

Sydney, 30 August 2014; Katz I, Griffiths A, Bullen J, & Nethery D,

Research Centre UNSW, Sydney.

Sydney, 30 August 2014.

17 Pike B, 2017, ‘School counsellors failing our students, UNSW

failing-our-students-unsw-research-reveals/news-sto

ry/858968b8bb4b92e25321022418e5df80>

18 Katz I et al, 2014, Review of the Student Support Officer Initiative,

cese.nsw.gov.au/images/stories/PDF/Eval_Rep/Schools/Student_

pdf_file/0018/47241/NSW-Ombudsman-Inquiry-into-behaviourmanagement-

20 ibid. p. 39.

21 Sullivan A, 2016, ‘Schools’ tough approach to bad behaviour isn’t

to-bad-behaviour-isnt-working-and-may-escalateproblems-

56737>

22 Department of Education, Employment and Workplace

upload/1284012446636_file_2Suspensions.pdf>

pdf_file/0018/47241/NSW-Ombudsman-Inquiry-into-behaviourmanagement-

associated-documents/suspol_07.pdf>

25 Quin D, Hemphill SA, 2014, ‘Student Experiences of school

26 NSW Department of Education, n.d.,, ‘Suspensions and

data/dataset/c0a90a6f-2509-45c5-ba77-cf5b00350043/resource/

a0ae2c7e-82ea-4d4e-8151-21c4c84fc7fa/download/2015-

suspensions-and-expulsions.pdf>

27 NSW Ombudsman, 2017, NSW Ombudsman Inquiry into

behaviour management in schools, NSW Ombudsman, Sydney,

pdf_file/0018/47241/NSW-Ombudsman-Inquiry-into-behaviourmanagement-

28 ibid.

<https://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/47241/

NSW-Ombudsman-Inquiry-into-behaviour-management-in-schools.

pdf> p. 21.

30 ibid. p. 88.

pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/200704/sub066-educationevidence.

pdf>

Committee on School Funding, AFDO, Melbourne, pp. 1–97.

After students finish school, post school

pathways are essential for young people

to find and sustain study or work. This

can include vocational education and

training, university, or apprenticeships

and traineeships. By considering a range

of options, young people are able to get

higher-skilled jobs, increased wages and

longer term employment.

But there are considerable barriers to post school

pathways. Accessibility, afforability, and a lack of

information about the options available are just some

of the barriers, and these issues are compounded

for young people experiencing various kinds

of disadvantage.

990,000 jobs

will be created by 2020.

only require a senior

secondary level

Many schools spend less

than a cup of coffee on

career guidance

of young Australians

from disadvantaged

backgrounds are in

education, training or

83.1% of those from

higher socioeconomic

backgrounds.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

with the necessary expertise, authority and

resourcing to substantially improve transition

outcomes.

careers advisors in NSW Government secondary

and tertiary institutions.

establish minimum standards by writing a

dedicated career development policy within the

Department of Education and integrating career

development in tertiary institutions.

professional development and training, including

on labour trends, working with employers as

well as relationship and network development.

bring together schools, employers, community

organisations and education providers to

improve employment outcomes.

and literacy and numeracy

courses at TAFEs and vocational education and

training institutes.

undertaking courses at these institutes.

70,000

Post-secondary education (PSE) is a vital pathway to

attain higher-skilled jobs, increased wages and longerterm

employment after exiting the school education

system. Young people are involved in PSE by studying

in vocational education and training, university or

undertaking an apprenticeship or traineeship.

Due to the significant social, developmental and

economic benefits of participating in post-secondary

education, barriers that prevent young people from

affordability and a lack of comprehensive information

about their options are just some of the barriers that

impact and prevent young people from gaining access to

disadvantage due to financial, situational, educational

or locational factors can find it particularly hard to enter

higher educational institutions, making further education

and training a less viable option. However, if the

education system addresses these barriers adequately,

post-secondary education can become increasingly

accessible to a diverse range of young people.

SCHOOLS TO WORK TRANSITIONS

The school to work transition can be a turbulent time

for young people. This is a period of time described as

‘coming of age events which all young people experience

as they leave school, consolidate skills, develop a sense

of job readiness and make decisions about life and

all young people experience the increasing difficulty

of gaining employment, but some young people face

considerably more challenges. The reduction of entrylevel

job opportunities, increased competition, job

automation and the rising casualisation of the workforce

have all contributed to systemic barriers that stop young

Australians from disadvantaged backgrounds are fully

engaged in education, training or work. This compares

to 83.1% of those from the highest socioeconomic

appropriate educational experiences to prepare them

for a changed employment context.

The transition between school and work is particularly

fraught because young people are especially transient

as they move between school and towards tertiary

study or a job and are likely to move out of a parent or

guardians’ home, move cities, work multiple short-term

jobs and change social circles. Similarly, this transition

is particularly difficult for young people from regional,

remote or rural areas because the existing challenges

are exacerbated by poor access to educational

infrastructure and employment opportunities.

Many young people feel that secondary school does

not equip them with the right skills for work, and that

comprehensive information about diverse career pathways

is not available to them. Students report not being effectively

informed, engaged and advised about their array of

information about alternate career options often makes

university the default choice and causes other streams to be

stigmatised due to a lack of exposure and understanding.

Career guidance is one of the missing links in the schoolto-

work transition. Careers guidance has been shown

to improve a young person’s chances of employment.

It keeps people in school, builds confidence and selfawareness

and connects pathways to education and

employment, which is particularly important for young

people who lack networks. Career guidance:

increase completion rates by 10–20% when effectively.

be unemployed or disengaged from education or

training if they undertake structured career activities.

Yet career guidance is undermined in NSW:

populations of over a 1,000 students) dedicate less

than $3 per student for career guidance.

work on a part-time basis and two-thirds of these

practitioners split their time between careers work

and classroom teaching, counselling, managing and

administration within a school environment.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

the necessary expertise, authority and resourcing to

substantially improve transition outcomes.

advisors in NSW Government secondary and

tertiary institutions.

minimum standards by writing a dedicated career

development policy within the Department of

Education and integrating career development in

tertiary institutions.

professional development and training, including

on labour trends, working with employers as well

as relationship and network development.

bring together schools, employers, community

organisations and education providers to improve

employment outcomes.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Vocational Education and Training (VET) is important

for young people as a valued provider of a range of

high-quality, flexible and accessible courses delivered

consistently to all students, particularly young people

experiencing disadvantage. It is an important connection

to future employment – just over 30% of students

enrolled in VET in NSW are between the ages of

Ensuring recruitment and retention in the VET sector

has the capacity to reduce youth unemployment and

increase employment participation. Of the 20–24-yearolds

who completed a VET course in 2015, 75% were

In the current system, too many young people in NSW

are confronted with significant barriers when entering

the VET sector, and this is especially the case for those

experiencing disadvantage. Challenges include financial

constraints, socioeconomic factors, geographical

remoteness and limited literacy and numeracy skills.

These barriers are often exacerbated by funding rules,

lack of information, and difficulties navigating the

These barriers should be addressed with a sense of

urgency, particularly given the prominence of early

school leavers in VET, with over 27,000 early school

leavers aged 15–19 in NSW enrolled in TAFE and 16,000

the eligibility criteria for fee-free scholarships, expanding

these scholarships and improving access to VET FEEHELP certificates.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

and literacy and numeracy courses at TAFEs and

vocational education and training institutes.

undertaking courses at these institutes.

ENDNOTES

1 Karp P, 2018, ‘Labor pledges inquiry into universities and Tafe

theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/feb/23/labor-pledges-inquiryinto-

universities-and-tafe-sector>

2 An approximately 50% of schools in Australia (with populations of

over a 1,000 students) who dedicate less than $3 per student for

career guidance.

people-are-faring-report-card-2015-FINAL.pdf>

org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Counting-the-costs-of-lostopportunity-

in-Australian-education.pdf>

www.thesmithfamily.com.au/~/media/files/research/reports/

www.thesmithfamily.com.au/~/media/files/research/

policysubmissions/School%20to%20Work%20Transition%20

Inquiry%20July%202017%20FINAL.ashx?la=en>

7 Lamb S. & Huo S, 2017, Counting the costs of lost opportunity in

Australian education, Mitchell Institute Report No. 02/2017, Mitchell

org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Counting-the-costs-of-lostopportunity-

in-Australian-education.pdf>

8 Lamb S, Jackson J, Walstab A & Huo S, 2015, Educational

opportunity in Australia 2015: Who succeeds and who misses

out, Centre for International Research on Education Systems,

Victoria University, for the Mitchell Institute, Melbourne,

uploads/2015/11/Educational-opportunity-in-Australia-2015-Whosucceeds-

and-who-misses-out-19Nov15.pdf>

9 National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), 2017,

<https://www.ncver.edu.au/research-and-statistics/publications/

<https://www.ncver.edu.au/data/collection/student-outcomes>

www.youthaction.org.au/vet_in_nsw>

12 ibid.

Clear pathways into sustained

employment are necessary for young

people to attain financial security,

independence, wellbeing, a sense of

belonging and skill development. All

young people should be able to access

meaningful, long-term employment so

they can contribute to the Australian

economy and community.

However, youth unemployment rates have remained

stagnant, underemployment is increasing and finding

work is increasingly difficult for all young people.

1 in 3

young people are

unemployed

young people in NSW

are currently neither

engaged in full-time

work nor full-time

0.5%

of available positions

1/3

unemployment in the first 100 days of

government. This plan should be created with

young people and the services that support

young people to ensure it is relevant to their

experiences, including those young people

who are at risk of disadvantage.

government youth workforces, ensuring 8% of

total project workforces is aged 25 and under,

as in the Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program.

This could take place across the work of

government, including councils, departments,

ministerial offices and large-scale contracts.

who need it, so they can gain and keep

be evaluated, including with young people

and, if found to be effective, expanded.

to young people experiencing disadvantage

by improving cultural competency, addressing

language skills and provide networking

opportunities through mentoring within

the community.

finding work, such as by proving free

transport to young jobseekers.

Young people have enormous potential and they

are a vital resource for the Australian economy and

community. Employment is important for young people

to attain financial security, independence, wellbeing,

a sense of belonging and achievement, as well as

skill development.

Yet youth unemployment and underemployment are

significant issues for Australia, with a fast changing

and challenging employment landscape. Youth

unemployment is twice that of the overall population, at

are more than 659,000 young Australians unemployed

or underemployed, which is 31.5% of the youth

people since the global financial crisis (GFC) is striking

and has had a lasting impact. For young people aged

15–19 the number of full-time jobs halved since 2008,

and the number of part-time jobs for the same group

has barely grown.

In NSW specifically, the figures are no better. In NSW,

84,900 young people are experiencing unemployment.

higher in the Hunter Valley Region and the Mid-North

specific sub-regions, like the Southern Highlands and

Shoalhaven, there are hotspots of youth unemployment

Increasing rates of underemployment, the rise of

casual and insecure work, as well as automation and

globalisation have impacted young people significantly.

In many cases there is a mismatch between the jobs

available and the jobs that young people can fill. Young

people are competing with more experienced workers

for part-time or casual positions in jobs with low stability

in industries like hospitality, retail and construction.

These jobs are also highly vulnerable to automation and

change, and young people are often seeking roles after

completing less training or education than those who

have already entered the workforce.

This is coupled with a reduction in the number of entrylevel

positions and apprenticeships, with less than 1%

Although young people are more educated than past

generations, youth unemployment trends cannot be

dismissed as the consequence of rising participation

in education and training, particularly when looking at

While this is the context for all young people seeking

work in Australia, evidence shows that employment

outcomes are worse for some young people with

specific life experiences.

The impact of youth unemployment for the broader

community is huge. The Foundation for Young

Australians reports that ‘having so many young people

out of the workforce costs our economy 790 million lost

hours of work each year, equating to up to $15.9 billion

in lost GDP to the Australian economy annually. The

social impact is equally compelling – loss of confidence,

hope and self-esteem has led to mental health issues

In NSW there is no current cohesive plan that brings

together the expertise and responsibility of the public

and private sectors to combat youth unemployment

and tackle systemic barriers.

The NSW government can put the brakes on youth

unemployment and should take steps to mitigate some

of the employment challenges. Changes should make

it as easy as possible for young people to get and keep

rewarding employment, as there are benefits for young

people here and now, as well as communities into

the future.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

unemployment in the first 100 days of government.

This plan should be created with young people and

the services that support young people to ensure

it is relevant to their experiences, including those

young people who are at risk of disadvantage

government youth workforces, ensuring 8% of total

project workforces is aged 25 or under, as in the

Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program. This could

take place across the work of government, including

councils, departments, ministerial offices and largescale

contracts.

need it, so they can gain and keep employment.

including with young people and, if found to be

effective, expanded.

to young people experiencing disadvantage by

improving cultural competency, addressing language

skills and provide networking opportunities through

mentoring within the community.

work, such as by proving free transport to

young jobseekers.

ENDNOTES

1 Davidson H, 2017, ‘Third of Australian youth have no job or are

mar/27/third-of-australian-youth-have-no-job-or-areunderemployed-

report-finds>

Lookup/6227.0Main+Features1May%202015>

3 Hennessy A, 2017, ‘Why finding a job in Sydney can be such hard

www.dailytelegraph.com.au/projectsydney/why-finding-a-job-insydney-

can-be-such-hard-work/news-story/91066b1fe8f3e2f9cc6babfb5d72f19a>

4 Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2018, ‘Table 25b. Labour Force

status for 15–29 year olds by Age, Educational attendance

cat. no. 6291.0.55.003, ABS, Canberra, August 2018,

DetailsPage/6291.0.55.003Aug%202018?OpenDocument>

<http://library.bsl.org.au/jspui/bitstream/1/10573/1/BSL_Unfair_

Australia_Mapping_youth_unemployment_hotspots_Mar2018.pdf>

abs@.nsf/Lookup/6150.0.55.001Main+Features1July%20

2017?OpenDocument>

7 Davidson H, 2017, ‘Third of Australian youth have no job or are

mar/27/third-of-australian-youth-have-no-job-or-areunderemployed-

report-finds>

8 Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017, ‘Table 16. Labour force status

for 15-24 year olds by State, Territory and Educational attendance

abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/6202.0Feb%20

2017?OpenDocument>

researchpapers/Pages/NSW-regional-labour-force-data---

interactive-portal.aspx>

library.bsl.org.au/jspui/bitstream/1/9004/1/BSL_Aust_youth_

abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6291.0.55.001>

library.bsl.org.au/jspui/bitstream/1/10573/1/BSL_Unfair_Australia_

Mapping_youth_unemployment_hotspots_Mar2018.pdf>

13 Hennessy A, 2017, ‘Why finding a job in Sydney can be such hard

www.dailytelegraph.com.au/projectsydney/why-finding-a-job-insydney-

can-be-such-hard-work/news-story/91066b1fe8f3e2f9cc6

babfb5d72f19a>

western_sydney_unemployment>

uploads/2018/06/FYA_TheNewWorkReality_sml.pdf >

Young people should have every opportunity to be safe,

and to have secure and healthy relationships. Right now,

prevalence of violence against women is highest for young

women. Services are not funded to give support to young

people and as a result, young people are falling through the

gap. Negative attitudes about relationships and gender are

linked to domestic violence, and young people provide the

one of the best opportunities to break the cycle and effect

large scale change, but investment in this area is lacking.

a specialist worker to provide child and young

people-centred, trauma-informed support for

children and young people in every refuge,

NSW Health sexual assault service, domestic

and family violence service and ‘Staying Home

Leaving Violence’ program location in NSW.

to implement a long-term, coordinated,

best practice whole school respectful

relationships program for students, staff,

parents and community members in 100

secondary schools.

assault survivors

seven times

more likely

one third

under 18

1/3

Many young people ‘witness’ domestic and family

violence taking place in their own families, and many

also experience it in their own intimate and domestic

relationships. Research shows that the prevalence of

Young women are at a higher risk of intimate partner

violence than older women, with those aged 18–24

twice as likely to experience sexual assault, with some

estimates that those aged 15–19 are four times as

likely. The 2012 Personal Safety Survey identified that

13% of young women (aged–24) experienced at least

one incidence of violence in the 12 months prior, a rate

higher than for any other age group surveyed.

Despite this, young people are being left out of

the conversation and, consequentially, violence is

perpetuated for young people in NSW.

Young people have a very different experience from

adults and children of domestic violence. They are new

to relationships and unaware of what is acceptable

behaviour. They live in a heavily gendered context. This

makes it more difficult to spot domestic violence in their

own relationships or in others’.

Research indicates that factors driving domestic and

family violence for young people are unique and

different to the experience of adults. Factors such

as stronger peer group norms, inexperience and

misinterpretation of jealousy, for example, as a sign of

love, patterns of age differences in relationships, lack

of access to services, and a tendency towards passivity

in help seeking for self or peers, all contribute to

The negative impacts of domestic violence

on young people is distinct, due to age and

As was highlighted in the Victorian Royal Commission,

and as is true for NSW, there are massive service

gaps. Young people experiencing DFV either receive

no response by the child protection system or are too

young to access domestic and family violence services.

Young people who experience sexual, domestic and

family violence should be recognised as individual clients

in their own right.

specialist worker to provide child and young peoplecentred,

trauma-informed support for children and

young people in every refuge, NSW Health sexual

assault service, domestic and family violence service

and ‘Staying Home Leaving Violence’ program

location in NSW.

There is ample research showing that negative attitudes

about relationships and gender are closely correlated

with domestic violence. But policies on this issue have

failed to grasp that age has one of the most significant

Youth Action’s research, conducted in partnership with

White Ribbon and UNSW, found that young men were

guys who are in charge of the relationship’ or ‘Men are

supposed to be the head of the household and take

This highlights the very real gaps between how young

men and women conceive of ‘normal’ in relationships.

This attitude gap is dangerous. It is also clear that

gender inequality increases girls and young women’s

and violence in domestic settings is most common in

communities where violence-supportive attitudes are

address attitudes in communities.

Whole school respectful relationships education

programs help students, staff, parents and community

members to understand the drivers of gender-based

violence and how they can change their attitudes and

behaviours to prevent violence. It involves working with

schools as an educational institution and workplace to

address the drivers of gender-based violence across

the school curriculum and through the school’s policies,

practices and activities.

The evaluation of a whole school respectful relationships

program in 19 Victorian schools found that it improved

the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of students and

found that school-based programs that address gender

norms have prevented domestic and family violence in

Currently, community and health workers deliver

respectful relationships programs in NSW schools on

an ad hoc basis. A long-term, coordinated, best practice

whole school respectful relationships program is needed

across NSW schools so that we can end gender-based

violence within this generation.

a long-term, coordinated, best practice whole school

respectful relationships program for students,

staff, parents and community members in 100

secondary schools.

ENDNOTES

1 NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 2018, ‘Victims:

Age and gender of victims of domestic violence related offences

Pages/bocsar_pages/Domestic-Violence.aspx>

Subject/4510.0~2015~Media%20Release~Reports%20of%20

sexual%20assault%20reach%20six-year%20high%20(Media%20 Release)~19>

3 Halpern C et al., 2000, ‘Partner Violence Among Adolescents in

Opposite-Sex Romantic Relationships: Findings from the national

Health Promotion Foundation’, Melbourne, p. 11

org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/An_assault_on_our_future_

6 ibid., p. 21.

9 ibid.

10 Flood M & Pease B, ‘Factors influencing attitudes to violence against

the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and Department

education.vic.gov.au/Documents/ about/programs/health/

ourwatchrespectfulrelationships.pdf>

violence/ gender.pdf>

Young people should not come into contact with the youth

justice system, but when they do, they should only be

detained as a last resort, and detention should be safe

for them.

More can be done to address the root causes of contact with the justice

system in NSW, to intervene early, and to utislise diversion to its full extent.

A review of the youth justice system has found the health and wellbeing of

young people has been put at risk. This must change.

In 2016–2017,

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

community-led solutions to break the cycle of

offending, with specific focus on the potential of

young people.

corrections budget for three new communityled

justice reinvestment initiatives across NSW.

corrections budget for the establishment of an

independent NSW justice reinvestment body

overseen by a board with Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander leadership.

young people away from contact with the

justice system.

strengthening and evidence-based programs to

prevent and address identifiable risk factors for

young people in NSW.

better planning and through pre- and postrelease

programs.

program and policy changes so that teachers

and school staff can identify risk factors and

supports for adolescents

linkages with schools, youth services and

local diversionary programs and the local

community

officers in schools and support their activities

to contracts.

by raising the minimum age of criminal

responsibility in NSW to at least 14 years.

recommendations of the NSW Inspector of

recommendations from the Royal Commission

into the Protection and Detention of Children

in the Northern Territory, as per the 2018 Child

policy and practice to ensure that children

are treated consistently with the Children’s

Convention and the Standard Minimum Rules

for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the

Beijing Rules).

in places of youth detention in line with

international human rights standards, including to prohibit:

where all other control measures have been

exhausted and have failed, and

invasive search options have been exhausted.

with the youth justice system should only be detained

as a last resort, and the evidence is clear that the most

effective approaches to juvenile justice are firmly based

on diversion.

There remains a need for a substantial shift to evidence-based

early intervention strategies to address the

underlying causes and risk factors that lead young people

to have contact with the justice system and keep some

young people churning through the system. It is well

established that young people experience a key period

of rapid and extensive psychological and biological

growth, ‘second only to early childhood in the rate and

adolescence can decrease the adverse long-term impacts

point is pivotal and a sound investment.

Evidence shows that young people in contact with

the NSW youth justice system experience frequent,

intersectional and compounding disadvantage. We know

that young people who are over represented in the

justice system include:

or areas of socioeconomic disadvantage

including children who have experienced family

violence or maltreatment, particularly when placed in

out-of-home care settings, and

The trajectories that lead to young people’s contact

with the law need to be addressed. By focusing on the

underlying causes of crime, young people have life

chances rather than a life in detention. For example, in

Bourke NSW an initiative enabled 236 people to obtain

a driver’s license and the community saw a reduction of

72% in the number of young people proceeded against

One key approach is justice reinvestment. An impact

assessment of the first major pilot site in Australia to

adapt and implement an Aboriginal-led and place-based

showed a $3.1 million in benefit to the community. There

was significant impact for young people, including a

31% increase in the retention rate for Year 12 students

in 2017, an 84% increase in the completion rate of VET

courses by Bourke High School students and a 38%

reduction last year in the number of juvenile charges in

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN

community-led solutions to break the cycle of

offending, with specific focus on the potential of

young people.

corrections budget for three new community-led

justice reinvestment initiatives across NSW.

corrections budget for the establishment of an

independent NSW justice reinvestment body

overseen by a board with Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander leadership.

Diverting young people away from criminality is not

only positive for their lifetime outcomes, but positive for

society as a whole. It costs approximately $1,500 per

in juvenile detention. Not only is this expensive, but it

has been well established that early interaction with

courts and incarceration leads to poorer lifelong criminal

Child rights reports suggest that diversion is not being

intervention, pre-court options utilised by policy and

courts, pre-sentence diversion and post-conviction and

youth sector delivers programs that provide positive

outcomes, through services that ‘wrap around’ young

people who come in contact with the juvenile justice

system or are at risk of coming into future contact. These

diversionary measures avoid criminalising young people

while they are at a critical stage of their development.

Youth services need to be able to work strategically,

focusing on outcomes for young people at the centre

of their work, planning for the long term and working

collaboratively with other agencies. Despite the best

intentions, consultations show that youth services face

departments that operate in silos and systems that

do not promote collaboration. There are also gaps in

community knowledge about the impacts of outcomes

on vulnerable young clients, and service contracts often

infrastructure to support young people is already in

place. Schools, youth services and successful programs

executed effectively for diversionary efforts exist already.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

people away from contact with the justice system.

strengthening and evidence-based programs to

prevent and address identifiable risk factors for

young people in NSW.

planning and through pre- and post-release programs.

and policy changes so that teachers and school

staff can identify risk factors and supports

for adolescents

with schools, youth services and local diversionary

programs and the local community

in schools and support their activities, and

to contracts.

The minimum age at which children can be held

international child rights community, as well as national

and community organisations, and various inquiries and

royal commissions continue to advise governments to

raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to an

internationally acceptable level.

In NSW, 66% of young people released from prison

chances of future offending increase the younger a child

has their first contact with the criminal justice system. In

2014–2015, 100% of those aged ten to twelve years at

the start of their first supervised sentence returned to

some form of sentenced supervision before they turned

18. This decreased slightly with successive age groups.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility in

NSW to at least 14 years.

There are widespread and systematic failings in youth

Young people’s health, safety and wellbeing have been

put at risk. A 2018 review into the NSW juvenile justice

system found that young people under the care of

the government had been subjected to inappropriate

routine strip searches, excessive use of force and

There are also continued and repeated reports of

children 16 years and above can legally be held in adult

has already begun implementing changes from a review

years it took to review NSW’s facilities and practices,

harm to young people continued while they were in

the care and protection of the NSW Government. It is

imperative that the NSW government take urgent action

to implement changes and ensure some of NSW’s most

vulnerable young people are safe.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

from the Royal Commission into the Protection and

Detention of Children in the Northern Territory, as

and practice to ensure that children are treated

consistently with the Children’s Convention and the

Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of

Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules).

of youth detention in line with international human

rights standards, including to prohibit:

last resort

where all other control measures have been

exhausted and have failed, and

search options have been exhausted.

ENDNOTES

<https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/ladocs/submissions/60335/

Submission%2027.pdf>

uploads/2018/10/Policy-Platform-2019-.pdf>

3 Davidson H, 2013, ‘Report reveals 87% of young people in NSW

youth-nsw-prisons-mental-health>

Documents/use-of-force-seperation-segregation-confinementnsw-

juvenile-justice-centre.pdf>

5 Australian Child Rights Taskforce, 2018, ‘Chapter 9’, The Children’s

Report: Australia’s NGO coalition report to the United Nations

Committee on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF Australia, Sydney,

Documents/Child-Rights-Taskforce-NGO-Coalition-Report-For-

UNCRC-LR.pdf>

9 ibid.

www.unicef.org.au/Upload/UNICEF/Media/Documents/Child-

Rights-Taskforce-NGO-Coalition-Report-For-UNCRC-LR.pdf>

12 Berkovic N, 2018, ‘Tackling crime differently pays off for outback

www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/tacklingcrime-

differently-pays-off-for-outback-town/news-story/832e5efb

56430eb8abac11f7951b3659>

www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-governmentservices/

2016/community-services/youth-justice/rogs-2016-

volumef-chapter16.pdf>

14 Sheehan P et al., 2017, ‘Building the foundations for sustainable

development: a case for global investment in the capabilities of

www.unicef.org.au/Upload/UNICEF/Media/Documents/Child-

Rights-Taskforce-NGO-Coalition-Report-For-UNCRC-LR.pdf>

gov.au/ladocs/inquiries/2464/Report%20Adequacy%20of%20

Youth%20Diversionary%20Programs%20in%20NSW.PDF>

au/youth_diversionary_programs_inquiry>

20 Gerathy S, 2016, ‘Juvenile Justice: NSW to review youth detention

Australian Child Rights Taskforce, 2018, ‘Chapter 9’, The Children’s

Report: Australia’s NGO coalition report to the United Nations

Committee on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF Australia, Sydney,

Documents/Child-Rights-Taskforce-NGO-Coalition-Report-For-

UNCRC-LR.pdf>

21 Nguyen K & Lu A, 2018, ‘NSW youth detainees subjected to

news/2018-11-24/nsw-youth-detainees-strip-search-excessiveforce-

Russell S, 2016, ‘Juvenile Justice, Young People and Human Rights in

24 Nguyen K & Lu A, 2018, ‘NSW youth detainees subjected to

news/2018-11-24/nsw-youth-detainees-strip-search-excessiveforce-

isolation/10551528?pfmredir=sm>

custodialinspector.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/use-of-forceseperation-

segregation-confinement-nsw-juvenile-justice-centre.

pdf>

www.unicef.org.au/Upload/UNICEF/Media/Documents/Child-

Rights-Taskforce-NGO-Coalition-Report-For-UNCRC-LR.pdf>

The youth sector is essential to building the connection of

young people to family, peers, community, and caring and

safe adults. It supports young people’s healthy development

and operates across a wide range of areas for the benefit of

young people.

Many young people in NSW need additional support to reach their full potential.

Young people present to youth services in NSW with issues most predominantly,

of homelessness, employment, education and training, and family relationships

enhance the protective assets in young people's lives and support them

intensively in times of need. But the majority of youth services report working

provision in NSW is broken, and despite broad support for change, reforms

haven’t harnessed the expertise in the sector.

meet need across the youth work service

continuum.

to serve local contexts and which respond to

the needs of communities and the services

supporting them.

prescriptive to flexible commissioning to

enable local service sectors to adapt and

respond to emergent local need.

youth services to plan for the long-term and

work more collaboratively with other agencies.

and caring professional relationship within which healthy

development can thrive. Youth workers are in a unique

profession that facilitates independence, connectedness,

and participation in society among young people

Youth work is commonly understood to be a tool for

personal development with youth workers working

alongside young people to support them in making

informed choices on matters that impact their lives

and which supports change at both an individual and

structural level. Youth work links young people to a range

of positive activities of a ‘social, cultural, educational

and political nature’ and sits within the domain of nonformal

family, peers, community and caring and safe adults and

Yet in NSW, many young people may not be getting

the support they need. Young people present to youth

services in NSW with issues most predominantly of

homelessness, employment, education and training,

youth support sector provides services to enhance the

protective assets in young people’s lives and supports

services report working at capacity and not being able to

Better outcomes are achieved when young people get

support early in the life of an issue, not just earlier in life.

Adolescence is a period of rapid developmental change,

during which personal and environmental change can

take place, and is an opportunity to provide the supports

that lead to positive outcomes for young people. A rational

early intervention approach targets critical periods of rapid

It is clear that quality, evidence-based and developmentally

appropriate prevention and early intervention programs

Despite quality services to young people, there is a

fragmentation of the NSW service system that impedes

services from achieving greater and better outcomes

for young people. It is necessary to build an overarching

vision for services or the children and young people they

support, providing direction and unity across the sector.

Rigid and siloed approaches to contracting across the

continuum of youth work service provision is problematic.

Contracted delivery models and terms remain prescriptive

(e.g. emphasis on case work), and of insufficient durations.

Prescriptive contracting, which specify delivery models

and activities to be undertaken, frequently fails to fit

meet presenting need. Additionally, short-term funding

cycles of up to three years, fail to allow services to engage

in strategic long-term planning, including collaborative

activities within local service system. These approaches to

contracting fail to recognise ‘on-the-ground’ experience and

The implications of these approaches are profound and

result in ineffective work, creation of service gaps, and

compromised outcomes for young people.

There is support from the sector for real and lasting

change. Effective change requires co-design with the

people and youth workers and must be implemented

and evaluated in partnership. Additionally, youth services

need to be able to work strategically, to plan for the longterm

and to be able to work without fear of short-term

competitive tendering.

For young people at risk and who experience exclusion

and disadvantage in NSW to thrive, a shared vision for

young people is required and must be inclusive of a

well-connected and appropriately resourced continuum

of youth work services from prevention and early

intervention to targeted intensive supports.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT CAN:

across the youth work service continuum.

local contexts and which respond to the needs of

communities and the services supporting them.

flexible commissioning to enable local service sectors

to adapt and respond to emergent local need.

services to plan for the long-term and work more

collaboratively with other agencies.

ENDNOTES

youthaction/pages/193/attachments/original/1446290668/YAPA_

SNAPSHOT_2011.pdf?1446290668>

via: <https://acoss.wpengine.com/images/uploads/Australian_

Community_Sector_Survey_2013_ACOSS.pdf>; Youth Action,

2011, Youth Work Snapshot 2011, Youth Action, Sydney, accessed

pages/193/attachments/original/1446290668/YAPA_

SNAPSHOT_2011.pdf?1446290668>

uploads/131219%20Youth%20Work%20Definition%20FINAL.pdf>

youth-work-competence>

youthaction/pages/193/attachments/original/1446290668/YAPA_

SNAPSHOT_2011.pdf?1446290668>

via: <https://acoss.wpengine.com/images/uploads/Australian_

Community_Sector_Survey_2013_ACOSS.pdf>; Youth Action,

pages/193/attachments/original/1446290668/YAPA_

SNAPSHOT_2011.pdf?1446290668>

HMSO, London.

Monograph, Centre for Independent Studies, NSW; Washington

State Institute for Public Policy, ’Benefit Cost Results’ accessed via

<http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/BenefitCost?topicld=3>

ncoss.org.au/sites/default/files/public/campaign/A%20Fair%20

Deal_%20Final.pdf>