Youth Hub
The Ceduna Youth Hub is a youth engagement and support program run by the Ceduna Aboriginal Corporation which delivers bespoke programs for young people aged 8 to 25 years.
Background and funding
Established in 2012, the Youth Hub was a response to the 2008 Youth Advice Country Areas Report (YACAR), a Federal, State and Local Government initiated consultative process. The YACAR identified a number of gaps in offerings for young people, including a dedicated space in Ceduna for young people to engage with and receive support in all life domains, particularly activities, social and emotional wellbeing, further education and employment.
Initially funded under a single agreement with the Federal Government, the Youth Hub’s brief was to provide a safe engagement and referral space for young people aged 12 to 25 years. Fast forward 10 years and the Youth Hub has grown to a multi layered program with inputs from various Federal and State Government departments, offering five different engagement and support programs.
Support programs
Each of these programs offer a tailored approach to engaging and working with young people in achieving improved outcomes in their lives. Many of our programs have a focus on engaging specifically with Indigenous young people, however, the core Youth Hub service model recognises that positive outcomes cannot always be achieved by working with target groups in isolation. Therefore, the Youth Hub promotes itself as a service for all young people and works from a strengths-based approach, not a deficit model, in engaging with and supporting our Indigenous young people.
Priorities
Engagement
After more than 10 years of consistent service delivery and growth, the Youth Hub boasts an unrivalled level of youth engagement in the community averaging contact with 180-230 individuals per year generating 150-240 repeat client contacts per week. It is important to consider that all of these contacts are through voluntary participation.
As a staple of our service delivery and key to relationship building with young people, the Youth Hub is open for After School Drop-In from 3 pm to 5 pm weekdays, as well as offering School Holiday Programs 11 weeks of the year from 9 am to 5 pm weekdays.
The future
From humble beginnings occupying an ex-residential property, the Ceduna Youth Hub now encompasses two properties close to the centre of town, with a purpose built, open plan youth engagement facility established in 2019.
With the continued support and vision of the Ceduna Aboriginal Corporation, the growth of the Ceduna Youth Hub will continue into the coming years with a third adjoining property having been purchased with the intentions to create an education and employment skills development hub for young people seeking the support and guidance they need to create the future they have imagined and deserve.
Youth wellbeing and justice
We provide an Indigenous Youth Diversion and Prevention Service called UNLOCKED at three sites in the Eyre Peninsula region of South Australia.
UNLOCKED promotes and facilitates the improvement of young people in the key areas of wellbeing, primary health, mental health, drug and alcohol-related issues, social recovery, vocational services and cultural/family/financial empowerment.
UNLOCKED is a free, youth-friendly and confidential service available to young people aged 10 – 25 years who are at risk of, or have come into contact with, the criminal justice system. The service is available in Ceduna (though the Ceduna Aboriginal Corporation), Port Augusta (through ITEC Health) and Port Lincoln (through the Port Lincoln Aboriginal Community Council) in South Australia.
UNLOCKED, brings together a range of co-located community-based and government agencies, to provide a holistic service as a “one-stop-shop” for young people at risk or involved with the criminal justice system. We offer information, intake, assessment and referrals.
Services include:
Ceduna Education Reform Project (CERP)
The Ceduna Education Reform Project (CERP) is focused on providing early intervention and prevention to support Aboriginal children and young people, and their families, to enhance the education system within the Ceduna region.
We aim to:
We recognise it is important for Aboriginal children to have high-quality education to enrich their learning journeys. We do this by delivering safe spaces for participants to grow and develop their learning, through fostering warm and welcoming environments while concentrating on individualised learning plans recognising participant’s unique needs.
