Youth Development Programs
Youth development programs in their various forms are key to improving things for young people and families in remote communities in Central Australia.
Youth Development Programs
Youth development programs in their various forms are key to improving things for young people and families in remote communities in Central Australia.
Youth Programs in Central Australia
Good quality youth programs provide recreational and diversionary programs that keep young people busy, engaged and out of trouble. Such programs provide a supported and safe environment where young people have access to assistance with referrals and support, they also provide fun and access to new skills. Good youth programs work closely with local stakeholders to shape program activities, they are often major employers of local staff and they coordinate with schools to encourage and support school attendance.
This map shows the main youth program providers in remote communities. It is not a comprehensive map of services and resources in the region.
Mural Project at Ali Curung
Our role at CAYLUS
As CAYLUS operates over a large region our strategic direction is to support the development of smaller regional community managed organisations as youth service providers. Our support includes :
providing support with recruitment and staff orientation and support.
assisting with locating and coordinating funding for youth programs; This includes funding for youth worker positions, infrastructure such as rec halls, houses for youth workers, vehicles, computer labs and other youth program resources. The following map outlines the support currently provided in the region, both workers and infrastructure.
professional support to program providers with staff supervision, submission and report writing and strategic planning.
assistance with monitoring and evaluation of youth programs
advocacy and policy work with government around the funding and strategic implementation of programs for young people and families.
Key resources
There are a range of good resources relating to Youth Program provision in our region that are worth checking out. This is a list of some;
The Youth Services Baseline Model - Central Australia (CAYLUS) details the basics for delivering effective youth programs in remote communities in Central Australia.
For youth workers
The CAYLUS ‘Blue Book’ revised edition, (2022) A collection of booklets to support youth workers, including Language, Activities, Planning, Sistergirl Brotherboy LGBTIQAP+, Stories and Navigating Support.
The CAYLUS 'Blue Book' first edition (1.5 mb download) is designed as an induction/ information document for youth workers working in the region. It is no supplement for on the ground supervision, mentoring and support, but is a good starting point for youth workers wondering how to go about things.
A handbook, posters and short films to support discussions around cyber safety.
The Meeting The Youth Gap modules modules has been used widely in Central Australia, as part of the MTYG local youth worker training, as well as in schools. The modules aim to be fun and accessible for the diverse range of English language and literacy levels in the region.
A Good Practice Model for Youth Program Development in Southern Central Australia (136 kb download) is a paper written by Pauline Fietz who was the youth worker at Docker River in 2006/07. It summarises some good practice approaches to running youth programs in remote communities and is informed by Pauline's first hand experience.
Socialisation and the Shaping of Youth Identity at Docker River (417KB download) is another paper by Pauline Fietz from 2005 that offers useful insights to people working with youth in remote communities in Central Australia.
Other resources
Investing in the Future- The impact of youth programs in remote central Australia: a Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis is a recently released report that looks closely at 3 Central Australian youth programs and the value the add to the local economy.
The Youth Programs in Central Australian Aboriginal Communities(722KB download) is a recent report from The Centre for Remote Health in partnership with CAYLUS which looks at some sample youth programs in Central Australia, some issues which affect them community and agency views about them.
Youth Programs in Central Australia: Beyond 2012 (575KB download) is a discussion paper put together by CAYLUS that highlights the importance of youth programs in the region and summarises some key evidence.
Warlpiri elders work with petrol sniffers was written by Liam Campbell and Andrew Stojanovski in 2001 for the Indigenous Law Bulletin.
The Mount Theo Story (809 KB download) was written in 1999 by Andrew Stojanovski and is an early account of the work of the Mt Theo Program at Yuendumu. This program started in 1993 as a community movement against petrol sniffing and continued to grow into a cutting edge youth development program for several years.
This submission from Maggie Brady of the ANU (30KB download) makes some useful points about parental responsibility as it relates to substance misuse and sniffing in many remote communities in our region.
Youth Worker Jobs
Remote and urban, short term, long term roles in the region
Youth Worker Jobs
Remote and urban, short term, long term roles in the region
Want to be a Youth Worker?
Why do families in Central Australia want youth programs? What do good youth programs look like? Watch this!
Youth work allows us the unique opportunity to spend time with people of different generations, in their community spaces and buildings, out bush on country, and in neighbouring communities. Youth program also runs both in the daytime and at nighttime, often on the weekend and throughout holidays. The program is defined by the seasons, working with local and regional cultural, spiritual, hunting, looking after country, family occasions, musical, sporting and other events. Local youth workers and young people coming to youth program may speak anywhere between one to five or more languages.
This means, when a youth program runs regular and inclusive activities, it is the most accessible service in a community.
This also means, youth workers are VERY popular… almost as popular as disco, bush trips, band night, cook ups, hairdressing, filmmaking, mural painting… and all the other favourite activities across the desert.
Youth Workers work together with Eastern Arrernte, Anmatjerre, Pitjatjantjarra, Central Arrernte, Western Arrernte, Pintupi, Luritja, Warlpiri, Warumungu, Alyawarr and Katyetye people.
The following organisations provide youth services across the region, in remote locations, and in Alice Springs/Mparntwe.
Click on the logos for current job vacancies.
