News

Hi there - check out this short podcast that introduces you to the new Youth Engagement Lead at AYAC.  I sat him down to tell us who he is and how just 2 weeks into the job how he sees the role.  Just open in a new window.

For many practitioners this guide practical elements are a known product.  Building programs for social connection is for many youth workers the very heart of what they do.  But more than that this guide provides a practical set of surveys to measure social connection.  I have not seen a tool do this in such a practiced but nuanced way.  Take a look.

https://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au/items/bb86870a-57d4-4d27-905d-78ecbea5d0cf/1/

This article by Professor Tim Corney is a review on how we define and interpret youth work for others.  It opens up the discussion about non formal and informal learning to be a part of our review of the national definition of youth work.  Makes for an interesting read.

Youth Work as Social Pedagogy Toward an Understanding of Non Formal and Informal Education and Learning in Youth Work.pdf 

Private Employment Providers
This is really a disgrace having posted the punishment for profit report on employment private providers here is further evidence of what a terrible system it is. This article talks about the 360 million paid in outcome payments whether the provider placed the client in employment or not. It also outlines the length they go to to pressure people to give personal info so they can apply for those outcome payments. Make a noise people the parliament is to consider a parliamentary review on private providers and the review says BIG changes are needed because the system has failed the most vulnerable. Here is the article 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/apr/28/payslip-wars-australian-jobseekers-suffer-harassment-in-a-crazy-system-that-doesnt-work-for-anyone   

This is a great Guardian podcast that squarely lays blame not at migrants (research suggests without the latest round of migration we would have gone into recession)  nup John Howard and Peter Costello helped by baby boomers.  If we are going to challenge these debates and the subsequent policy that should be changed lets inform ourselves if we are ever to have equity in housing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHY9-hrmGMs

Uniting Church Children Social Exclusion Index

This is an evidence based report outlining the level of social exclusion children and young people face. It is a multidimension index which does not only use poverty (tho we know that poverty does intersect across the board, educaiotn, social and recreation participation etc) it looks at a range of dimensions. The facts such as one in six children live in poverty even higher in Tas. Children and young people in regional areas and Tas experience the highest level of social exclusion. You can find the report

https://unitingcare.org.au/submission/child-social-exclusion-report-index/

This resource will be of interest to all our training partners but also for conversations with groups of young people you may be working with that are interested in global events.  All the big issues poverty, climate, fair trade etc.  All in this accessible engaging set of modules.  Here is a note from one of the creators

The module, Global Youth Work is part of our work in the NYCI led Youth2030 Consortium - it's interactive, free, open source and brilliant!

It's been 18 months or so in the making so we are delighted to release it into the world. As ever, it's been a real privilege to work with the Youth2030 team in NYCI.

It would be great if you could distribute to your networks as appropriate. All the best for a lovely weekend, Hilary

https://www.youth.ie/training/global-youth-work-new-online-learning-module/

https://www.youthworkandyou.org/

Poverty is the key intersection in every young persons life.  It impacts on their education, social participation, resource for success, food and housing insecurity and more. So every aspect of their lives. If we couple this with one of my earlier posts punishment for profit that outlines the depth and breadth of mutual obligation breaches imposed by job providers which compounds poverty for children and young people. ACOSS estimate that 1.2 million children and young people live in poverty and a contributing factor is the number of parents caught in this degrading and discriminatory system.  Poverty in Australia 2023 gives you some hard evidence to utilise and you can find it here

From our Youth Work Colleagues in Ireland comes a new resource to evidence the value of youth work.  It is a full kit of training and evaluation tools ready to go.  You can check it out here

It is built for youth organisations that want to evidence their impact with young people.  I am sure you will find it useful.

Cheers Robyn

Julian Hill led a parliamentary committee that reviewed the employment services.  What a breath of fresh air  where  he acknowledges that the system has let vulnerable job seekers down.  It is a system that doesn't work for vulnerable people and acknowledges there are many that face barriers to work that is never acknowledged.  He admitted government needed to have skin in the game.  Per Capita had Julian speak at the monthly John Cain lunch.  Most importantly he said only public servants should have the power to breach a person of their income.  A system that ACOSS says is a major contributor to the 1.2 million children and young people  who live in poverty.  You can listen to it 

https://percapita.org.au/blog/2024/02/27/employment-services-inquiry-findings-and-implications-for-public-services-with-julian-hill/

You may also like to read the GetUp report punishment for profit that refers to how the broken employment system is punishing vulnerable people.  You can find it here

https://punishmentforprofit.org/