News

Since 1999 the Jesuits Social Services have been reminding us that Australia is not an equal society and poverty and disadvantage is intergenerational. Their latest report highlights the most disadvantaged communities and the same ones top the list. Young people in these communities see intergenerational poverty that has a dramatic impact on their life trajectories. It is, unfortunately, compelling reading.

To find out more click here.

Find the full report here.

Dear YWA Members,

We have been working hard to finalise the change of name process and now we are officially Youth Workers Australia!

Our name may have changed but at the core, we still represent youth workers in Australia and are championing them as best we can!

To reflect this change our bank details have also changed:

Bendigo Bank 

Youth Workers Australia  Inc.

BSB: 633-000

Account: 144078003

Bank: Community Sector Banking

Thank you to those that have paid membership fees this year, please see below for more information about our membership, if you have any queries please do not hesitate to email me at membership@ywa.org.au 

Student Membership/Cert IV - $5.00

Is currently enrolled in any youth work course from CERT IV to Bachelor of Youth Work.

Graduate - $25.00

Has graduated with a Bachelor of Youth Work within the last year.

Full Member - $50.00

Is a youth worker with a Bachelor of Youth Work degree.

Associate - $50.00

Has extensive youth work experience and a diploma.

Alternate Membership - $50.00

Has 5 years experience in the sector and has gained qualifications in other disciplines, i.e. Community services, community development and other courses that have a significant component of youth & community, youth mental health or AOD. Find the Alternate Membership Applicationhere.

Organisational (Price on Application)

For more information please enquire at membership@ywa.org.au

Memberships are tax-deductible.

With thanks, 

Helen 

YWA Membership Officer 

Youth Workers Australia is pleased to announce we have an upcoming Annual General Meeting.

Come along and hear what exciting things YWA have been up to this year and meet our board!

When? Thursday, 4th November 2021, 5 PM

Where? Via Zoom

Please RSVP by emailing info@ywa.org.au before 27th October 2021, the Zoom link will be sent out 1 week prior to the meeting.

By Emeritus Professor Robyn Broadbent, CAYWA Chair

International Youth Work Week is celebrated by the Commonwealth Youth Program every year. This year the week runs from November the 1st. The Commonwealth Alliance of Youth Worker Associations (CAYWA) is looking to deliver some workshops during the week but we are very keen to firstly launch the coffee trials that ran last year.

You are committing to a virtual cup of coffee with a colleague from a different country. It is when we reach out to our colleagues we learn more about what we share in common and we also learn about the context in which our colleagues work.

Please promote the coffee trials with your colleagues, sign up and be a part of a fun activity that shares our passion for Youth Work and celebrates the difference that Youth Workers make in the lives of vulnerable young people.

REGISTER HERE

VicHealth has been working with YMCA (and their partners) to develop content for the Virtual Y platform and as a result have created the Youth Communication and Engagement Playbook. This Playbook is for anyone who creates content online that speaks to young people. It has been designed to be easy-to-use, and to help you post in a way that encourages connection and conversation with young people, because after all, that is what it is all about.

To access the playbook follow this link.

On behalf of YACVic and Youth Work Matters working group, the YWA would like to invite our members, as people who work with and supports young people, and/or as an employer of people who work with and support young people, to participate in the below surveys.

 You will be helping to increase the understanding of the valuable role you and so many other workers play in young people’s lives, and the need and opportunities related to investing more extensively in youth programs and services in Victoria.

Each survey should take about 10 minutes to complete. We really appreciate you taking the time, and encouraging your colleagues and peers to also complete the surveys, by 17 September 2021. 

Follow these links to the surveys:

Survey for people who work with and support young people:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Z8FPYPQ

 Survey for employers of people who work with young people: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZV5W23G

The surveys are completely confidential. Results will be analysed by the Youth Affairs Council Victoria (YACVic).

Please also forward this email to colleagues and peers who work with young people in Victoria, so we can make the survey as comprehensive and meaningful as possible.

Thank you so much for your input on this important matter.

As you may know there have been significant changes to the funding of higher education by the Australian Government. On 13 December 2020, the Australian Government, Department of Education, Skills and Employment introduced a new ‘professional pathway’ stream for students studying Youth Work, and recognised the YWA as the accrediting body for Youth Work degrees nationally.

A Professional Pathway Youth Work degree is one in which it is compulsory for students to undertake the units relevant to professional registration as a Youth Worker. This also means that for students enrolled in an accredited Professional Pathway degree in Youth Work, that units in Human Welfare Studies and Services (FOE codes starting with 0905) will be considered part of the professional pathway and charged at a lower rate than other social science units. Please follow the link for more information https://www.dese.gov.au/professional-pathways

As a result of these changes and in recognition of the national role that the YWA is playing in accrediting and recognising professional youth workers across Australia, the board of the YWA have decided to change the name of the association to Youth Workers Australia. This historic change was put to a vote of members at an extraordinary general meeting held on 22 July and was unanimously endorsed. The YWA will continue to liaise with existing and/or emerging state based bodies and will continue to accept membership applications from any person who has undertaken a recognised Youth Work qualification and meets the criteria for membership. See link for more information on YWA membership

A big thank you to everyone who has supported us at the YWA, we look forward to continuing our work as Youth Workers Australia!

By Emeritus Professor Robyn Broadbent

The Commonwealth Youth Program recently released the 2020 Youth Development Index.  This is the third Youth Development Index and is the only one of its kind that seeks to interrogate the progress of young people across the globe using key indicators such as health, employment and civic participation.

Whilst overall, the index shows advances in youth’s participation in peace processes and their education, employment, inclusion and health care since 2010. It also provides a stark contrast to those young people in countries where their scores have gone backwards evidencing a downward trend in their opportunities, health and well-being.  It is also notable on this terrible day where Afghanistan has lost its way to a brutal, patriarchal regime that up until 2020 Afghanistan had made the largest progress in the key indicators lifting their score by 15%.  The YDI will now stand as a testament to that history.  Nevertheless, improvement in other countries is to be celebrated as this is all about young people. 

 It is important to note that Australia is 56 and 61 in the employment and health and wellbeing indexes.

For many young people, Australia doesn’t feel so lucky when their health and employment opportunities are so compromised. Youth Workers around Australia can add testament to the toll that poor access to mental health services and barriers to meaningful and stable employment has on so many. The index uses evidence collected before the pandemic.  For Australian young people, the results in 2021 will be far worse. This puts a spotlight on the role of Youth Work in every community to enable and support young people in this global pandemic.

To see more of the global youth development index see here!

Today is International Youth Day and should be celebratory. At the YACVic conference, I see the many reasons why we should be celebrating our young people for the amazing things they are doing with and for their communities.

Instead, this is a generation that has experienced the harshest impact due to COVID. The impact on employment has been significant, compounded by the fact that young people are a part of a growing casualised workforce. The mental health and well being of young people has also been adversely affected due to lockdowns and in particular the lack of access to mental health services that are experienced by many young people particularly in rural and regional communities.  There is no national youth policy or strategy that can provide young people with a voice and where their challenges are acknowledged.

Nevertheless, Happy International Youth Day from Youth Workers Australia, who represent the work of professional Youth Workers who strive to make a difference in young people’s lives and ensure that they have a seat at the table.

Dear YWA Members,

Just a reminder that membership fees are due by 30/9/2021!

Please contact membership@ywa.org.au to renew your membership.

Fees are:

$5 Student

$25 Graduate

$50 Associate

$50 Full