Young people are at the centre of how we design, deliver and improve every program we run, whether that’s a conversation that shapes a brand-new idea, or a young person shaping decisions today. Some of what we do is to listen and respond. Some of it is building things together from the ground up. Here are 4 examples of what that looks like in practice.

The Education Support Pilot

In designing this initiative ESP staff spoke with a group of residents in our crisis and transitional accommodation programs.

They were asked about what supports they might need to increase their engagement at school and their responses provided the basis for the program design. We then invited students from 15 educational institutions to complete an online survey during Youth Week 2024 with 166 responses adding to the co-design process.

During the first twelve months of program operations participants were invited to take part in two co-production opportunities, both of which provided crucial insights into the program’s ongoing evaluation and improvement cycle.

In their own words:

More time and support to enrol in school.

More support workers like counsellors at schools who are good at connecting with young people.

Animals at school like fish or bunnies would help calm and provide opportunities to learn how to care for something else/therapy.

The National Supporting Adolescent Boys Trial (SABT)

We have been pleased to deliver SABT across Tasmania, funded by the Commonwealth Department of Social Services.

The Department selected Allen & Clarke Consulting to conduct the external evaluation of the Trial across its 14 sites Nationally. Several young Tasmanian participants, and family members, were interviewed by the evaluation team.

The program supports the recovery and healing of young men who have experienced family, domestic and sexual violence.

So, it was incredibly brave of these young people to talk to the evaluators about the support they’ve received. We are grateful to everyone who was involved in sharing their insights.

Read more about the program via our news section!

Our strategy on a page

Our strategic plan needed to work for stakeholders and for young people. So, alongside our original strategy document, we set out to build a second version, in young people's own words. We tested an early draft with 19 members of the George Town Youth Council, aged 11 to 19.

They told us plainly what wasn't working: some of our "goals" were actually just descriptions of how we'd work, and words like "empower" and "equitable" didn't land at all.

We took their feedback, amended the document, and returned for further feedback. Fourteen young people, some who'd seen the first draft and some new to it, tested the revised version. "Empower" became "control" and "choice"; "equitable" became "fair"; dense sentences became simple; and more colour was added. They were impressed to see their feedback so clearly reflected and were keen to keep giving more.

We now have a youth version of our strategy, built word by word with young people, that sits alongside the original for stakeholders.

In their own words:

Goal 1 is great, goals 2 and 3 seem like how you are going to do it, which aren't really goals.

The rest is really easy to read but not that bit, and it's at the end too, people might not read it and it's probably the most important bit.

Merchandise

Young people helped shape a new Home Base merchandise collection, bringing their ideas, creativity and perspectives to life through a series of youth-led designs.

From workshops through to voting and final products, the collaboration created a genuine opportunity for young people to influence how Home Base shows up in the community.

Eight young people took part in the design workshops, 22 more provided feedback on colours and logos to use. In total, six designs were then shared with the wider community for voting.

You can watch a short video about our design process below.