There are hundreds of non-government non-residential youth services and projects in NSW, funded by various state and national government departments and local councils. YAPA has twice conducted major surveys of these services: Census 2002 and Snapshot 2011.
Youth Work Snapshot 2011
Youth Work Snapshot 2011 is a YAPA survey of youth services and workers in NSW.
It has been almost 10 years since this quality and depth of data has been collected from youth services and workers in NSW (see Census 2002 below). The idea behind the report was the significant need to bridge the gap in knowledge available to the government and non-government agencies interested in the services provided to young people in NSW and the people providing the service.
This research formed a critical part of the Keeping It Together (KIT) Youth Sector Support Project undertaken by YAPA to support the youth sector through a significant period of change. The survey and the report have essentially created two critical baselines:
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What activities are being undertaken by services across NSW and where are the gaps?
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What are the attributes of the youth sector workforce and how does this impact on their vital work with young people?
With pivotal changes generated by the Keep Them Safe reform as well as former CSGP funded services transitioning to Community Builders and Early Intervention and Placement Prevention funding programs these baselines will provide crucial information on which to base our assessment of impact of these reforms and future discussions on way to build the strengths of the youth service sector.
This 2011 snapshot allows us to see what the NSW youth sector looks like currently and highlights areas crying out for changes. It will also assist YAPA in identifying priorities for building skills and capacity in the sector. This perspective provides useful grounding for discussions and lively debates of the future of youth work in NSW and across Australia.
Many thanks to Dr Liz Reimer of Elizabeth Reimer Consulting for her academic expertise. We hope to use the information it has generated as a great advocacy and discussion tool until we do it all over again!
Youth Work Snaposhot 2011 - download via online form
Complete this form to download a copy of Youth Work Snapshot 2011..
Census 2002
YAPA conducted a census (survey) of youth services in 2002. The census reports on 770 youth projects, funded by 14 funding programs from 9 state and federal departments and over 80 local councils.
Census 2002 Reports
- Highlights (14 pages, PDF): a quick reference to some of the main census questions
- Summary Report (24 pages, PDF)
- Health and AOD Highlights PDF
- NESB & ATSI Highlights PDF
Census 2002 questionaire form
- NSW Youth Services Census form (20 pages, PDF)
About the Census 2002
All projects funded by these government grants were included in Census 2002:
- Local council-funded youth workers and projects
- CSGP General Youth Project - Community Services Grants Program (DoCS)
- CSGP Adolescent Family Counsellors/ Adolescent Support Program - Community Services Grants Program (DoCS)
- AAS - Area Assistance Scheme - youth projects only (Planning NSW)
- Links to Learning (DET)
- Reconnect (FaCS)
- YAS - Youth Activity Service, and FLW - Family Liaison Workers (FaCS)
- SFC - Stronger Families and Communities (FaCS)
- JPET - Job Placement, Employment & Training
- RYIS - Rural Youth Information Services
- National Illicit Drugs Strategy - Community Partnerships Initiative (DHA)
- CSSS - Community Settlement Services - youth projects only (DIMIA)
- PCYC - Police & Community Youth Clubs
- Post Release Support Projects - Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ)
- Crime Prevention - Aboriginal Youth Grants, Aboriginal Community Patrols, Safer Communities Development Fund, Council crime prevention plans (NSW Attorney General’s)
Which projects and organisations were not in Census 2002?
A few projects funded by one of the grants listed above were not in the census:
- if most clients were under 12 years or over 25 years old.
- if the project was over and the worker had finished before Census Week 19-25 October 2002.
- if the grant from the source listed above did not fund a worker (eg. small grants for equipment or events only).
Projects funded by the following types of grants were not part of the census:
- SAAP (accommodation)
- residential care
- disability
- legal (eg. Community Legal Centres Funding Program)
- arts
- NSW Health (eg. youth health services).
A number of other youth-related workers and projects were not included in the census, because of the large number of these groups and difficulty contacting them all:
- youth workers funded by a charity or foundation or by the corporate sector
- projects that work mainly with younger children under 12 or adults over 25
- unfunded/volunteer youth groups, activist groups and youth councils.
Who was the independent researcher for Census 2002?
Paul Bullen has experience with many community organisations and had helped the Local Community Services Association carry out a similar census of neighbourhood centres for the previous few years. More information about Paul Bullen’s consultancy, Management Alternatives is at his website www.mapl.com.au.