Youth Programs

Opportunities and hope

‘Opportunities and hope’ relate to the futures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people. It is the hope for all our children and young people to realise their full potential and create their own futures. It is the various programs, supports, traineeships and other post-schooling programs that provide opportunities for our children to realise their potential.

Available Programs

There are many programs that are available, both those supported by communities and by the government.

These cover a wide range of areas including issues like social and emotional well-being, healing and leadership that are discussed in other sections of this resource.

These programs also cover more practical life skills, education and career paths. These programs could include school supports throughout the young one’s ‘academic’ life, as well as scholarships for university or TAFE.

There are also several programs that exist for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people who would rather not go to university or TAFE, preferring to do something else, such as a traineeship.

This section seeks to link you to some of these opportunities to support the child or young person in your care to access supports available to help them to set and to realise their own goals.

We note that this section aims to just be a starting point. It does not provide a comprehensive list of all of the programs that exist across Australia.
We encourage carers to support young people to speak to their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander career advisor or local contact or services.

NATIONAL BASED SCHOLARSHIPS AND PROGRAMS

View All

STATE BASED SCHOLARSHIPS & OPPORTUNITIES

NSW

VIC

TAS

QLD

WA

Do you know of some more programs that we could share here? Please let us know!

What is leadership?

“In almost all areas of Indigenous affairs, leadership has been identified as a priority. Leadership projects and activities encourage personal growth, enhance self-confidence and build self-esteem in individuals, which in turn enhances mental health and wellbeing and strengthens communities. Well-designed leadership initiatives can also provide hope for Indigenous peoples to work towards fulfilling dreams and aspirations, particularly so among Indigenous youth.”

(VicHealth, Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing, 2005)

Leadership is a really important aspect for the development of our young people. Leadership can be harnessed in many different ways.

One major way to support leadership development for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people is through mentoring.

Mentoring for leadership

Mentoring can assist and support youth to develop their leadership skills and other areas of their life.

The young person is ‘mentored’ by someone who offers advice, companionship and support to them. This also can foster deeper sense of culture, with Elders passing on important learnings to become strong and proud Aboriginal men and women.Mentoring programs can focus on a range of things such as, crime prevention, education, employment, social and emotional wellbeing and culture.