Youth Frontiers
Department of Communities and Justice run Youth Frontiers, a mentorship program for young people aged 10 to 17 years who have been in contact with child protection or the justice system. Find out how the program works and how you can get involved.
What is Youth Frontiers?
This is a mentoring program funded by the Department of Communities and Justice. It gives young people an opportunity to build life skills and self-confidence. It supports young people aged 10 to 17 years, by matching them with mentors in their communities.
To be eligible for the program, the young person needs to have been in contact with child protection or the justice system.
Mentors and young people are matched based on their personality, shared interests and cultural background. The service provider arranges a meeting with the potential mentor and young person. This gives a young person the chance to decide if they would like to do the program together. If everyone agrees, the young person and mentor are matched.
The young person will receive at least 52 hours of mentoring support over 12 months.
The activities that young people and mentors do together vary depending on the interests of the young person. These may include going to an event, playing sport, or building or creating something together.
Where is it offered?
Youth Frontiers is being delivered in four local government areas (LGAs):
- the Central Coast
- Sydney
- Fairfield
- the Illawarra (Wollongong and Shellharbour LGAs).
The Central Coast and Sydney locations support Aboriginal children and young people. The Fairfield and Illawarra locations support girls and young women.
Contact our service providers
Contact your local service provider to volunteer as a mentor or to refer a young person to the program.
| Location | Service provider | Phone | Website | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Central Coast | Bungree Aboriginal Association | (02) 4350 0100 | enquiries@bungree.org.au | bungree.org.au |
Sydney | Deadly Connections Community and Justice Services Ltd | 18004USMOB | info@deadlyconnections.org.au | deadlyconnections.org.au |
Illawarra | YWCA Australia | (02) 9285 6286 | ywca.org.au/contact-us | ywca.org.au |
| Fairfield | CORE Community Services | (02) 9755 8000 | info@corecs.org.au | corecs.org.au |
Mentoring for Aboriginal young people
In Sydney, Aboriginal mentors from within the local community deliver the program through Deadly Connections Community and Justice Services. To learn more about what is offered in this program, view the Deadly Connections website.
On the Central Coast, the Bungree Aboriginal Association delivers the program. To learn more about what is offered in this program, view the Bungree Aboriginal Association website.
These mentoring programs provide individual and group mentoring activities which include:
strengthening connection to culture, identity, family and community
reducing and minimise contact with the Justice and child protection systems
promoting healthy lifestyle behaviours
addressing barriers to participation
improving engagement and participation in education and employment
providing holistic support for families of young people
improving life outcomes through mentoring support, positive learning, and social engagement activities.
Mentoring for young women and gender-diverse people
There are organisations that deliver mentoring specifically for young women and gender-diverse people.
The YWCA delivers the Youth Frontiers program to young women and gender-diverse people in the Illawarra region (Wollongong and Shellharbour LGAs). The YWCA links participants with a supportive female adult who acts as a positive role model.
Core Community Services offers the Youth Frontiers program to young women in the Fairfield local government area. They receive support to develop life skills, improve their wellbeing and build connections with the community.