from YAPRap October 2006
by Michael Aiken
The NSW Central Coast, a region of around 2000 km2 reaching from the shores of Lake Macquarie, just south of Newcastle, to the banks of the Hawkesbury river to Sydney's north, is home to a population of over 300,000 people, almost 35% of whom are under 25.
The area is well known for its picturesque geography, including numerous rivers, beaches, estuaries and forests, and hosts an ever-growing tourist industry. Yet despite the leisure setting and the high youth population, most of the Central Coast's community facilities, businesses and infrastructure are not geared to cater to young people. 
Of particular disadvantage to the youth of the Central Coast is the geographic dispersal of the various communities: while open spaces, extensive waterways, national parks and generous public reserves contribute to the beauty of the Central Coast, these same features have led to the development of isolated, village-like communities, separated by mountains, lakes and forests, with little or no affordable public transport linking them.
The Central Coast is also home to a very high proportion (27%) of residents aged 55+, with lifestyles, interests and support needs largely irrelevant to the youth population. Meanwhile, those aged 20-29 continue to leave the Central Coast - mostly for Sydney or Newcastle - for work and study. This kind of movement of young adults away from the region impacts on the diversity of ideas, cultural life, and business in the area, and perpetuates a cycle of low employment opportunities and limited infrastructure development, to the disadvantage of the remaining youth in particular.
Many young people on the Central Coast suffer the effects of isolation on a low income; what little affordable entertainment that exists is most often inaccessible by public transport, particularly as all public bus services in the area are non-government (and therefore not only charge higher fares, but do not recognise student concession cards) and operate extremely limited services outside weekday business hours. The region has a significant incidence of mental illness, suicide, child abuse and domestic violence, and many employed residents must commute to Sydney or Newcastle, a disruption which greatly impacts the lives of themselves, their spouses and their children.
In 1994 Gosford Council provided a small, one-off grant for Gosford Youth Services (now Regional Youth Support Services) to employ a part-time Youth Services Research Worker to conduct a two-month research project to identify the existing provision of services to young people in the Gosford LGA as well as identify linkages and gaps that required additional services. The resulting report found substantial gaps, including the following:
- Little information had ever been gathered by government or non-government support services and agencies regarding the needs and wants of young people on the Central Coast, particularly not on a regular basis.
- Low cost, accessible recreation, entertainment and cultural activities for young people on the Central Coast are in very short supply.
- Where entertainment or recreation exists there is often no transport to get there.
As part of this research project, consultations with service providers indicated "overwhelmingly" that existing youth facilities and programs were not adequately resourced. Various groups, including young people themselves, the Gosford City Youth Council and service providers identified a real need for a significant youth centre or similar facility at a central location, preferably in Gosford itself, to take advantage of what public transport exists and act as a hub for young people to access cultural and recreational activities, support services and information. It was also envisioned that such a hub would greatly facilitate the gathering of much needed data regarding the needs, interests and concerns of young people in the area.
In the ten or more years since this research project was undertaken, services for young people on the Central Coast have marginally improved. Gosford Youth Services undertook to become an umbrella auspice for numerous youth services in the area, and has continued to pursue the goals identified by the research project. To these ends, Gosford City Council has provided permanent premises for a 'Multi Service Youth Facility' - Parkside - to facilitate the provision of an optimal mix of services to local young people and families including employment access, information, support, counselling, training and a cultural arts space. The Parkside building at the time of purchase by Gosford Council was a disused shopping centre. With funds from NSW and Federal Governments and local private businesses RYSS and ET Australia have converted the space into substantial offices for seven youth service providers, a common reception area and tenant facilities and shower, clinic, laundry and food/clothing facilities for Parkside clients.
Who is in Parkside
Parkside is a multi-service youth service centre, initiated by Regional Youth Support Services (RYSS) and Employment Training (ET) Australia. At present, Parkside houses six independent youth service providers.
ARC
The Aftercare Resource Centre (ARC) provides assistance to young people aged 15-25, who have been, or are still in out-of-home care, and need assistance in their move towards independence. ARC runs groups, organises outings, produces a newsletter and operates a drop in centre. ARC provides help with:
- accommodation
- support for court or reading files
- referral to health services, family support and other services
- applying for social security, TAFE courses and jobs
- opportunities to discuss family and care experiences
- counselling for future planning.
Cassy4Youth
Cassy4Youth provides outreach support to young people 16 to 25 years of age. Cassy4Youth assists young people in accessing affordable long term accommodation, provides support and individual case management for the development of living skills - budgeting, cooking, cleaning and social skills - and also links clients with local employment, training, health and mediation services. Cassy4Youth also provides court support for individuals and families.
Central Coast Post School Options (CCPSO)
CCPSO provides tailor-made training programs for young people with disabilities in order to maximise their opportunities to move into employment and to enhance their skills in numerous areas including literacy, numeracy, cooking and more. Several young people work in the CCPSO Co-op, as well as developing CCPSO gardens and working, through CCPSO, in office maintenance roles, and CCPSO continues to develop new avenues to assist young people in finding employment.
ET Australia
Employment Training Australia is a locally based employment, training and recruitment company. At Parkside ET Australia provides:
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New Apprentice Centre (NAC) - information and support about new apprenticeship options to employers, apprentices and other interested people
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Links to Learning - allows young people aged 15-24 who have left school to gain a School Certificate equivalent. Also assists participants in pursuing further learning after acquiring School Certificate equivalent, including direct employment, work experience, TAFE placement, HSC enrolment and apprenticeships
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Green Corps - giving young people the opportunity to participate in projects designed to preserve and restore Australia's natural environment and heritage. Participants also gain improved career and employment prospects through accredited training, structured work activities and work experience
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Donnisons On the Park Restaurant Youth Employment Enterprise - a joint venture of ET Australia and RYSS to create a commercial restaurant, catering service and hospitality training venue which operates on a sustainable basis. The 80 seat restaurant has been operating for over 3 years, with the aim of creating employment opportunities for young people under 25 by providing a constant source of well trained young people for the Central Coast's hospitality and tourism sector.
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ET Australia is a Registered Training Organisation including vocational training and traineeships.
Smith Family's Learning for Life
Learning for Life is the only education support worker in Gosford city. LFL is a flagship program of the Smith Family that provides scholarships to primary, secondary and tertiary students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds, and aims to break the welfare cycle by maximizing the educational opportunities of its scholarship recipients.
Regional Youth Support Services (RYSS) 
RYSS has a staff of professional youth workers to foster social and support networks with young people and to make available assessment, information, support and referral services. RYSS has a number of on-going programs to help young people across a range of challenges, including the Interlynk (internet) Lounge in Gosford CBD, young women's & men's groups, youth education programs, arts programs, Wyoming Youth Centre programs and Outreach Specialised Youth Worker support in high schools and across the local area. RYSS is also responsible for the proposal, development, staffing and coordination of the Youth Arts Warehouse cultural arts space currently under construction at Parkside which is due to open formally in early 2007.
Youth Arts Warehouse (YAW)
YAW, a project of RYSS, will take advantage of a large warehouse space in the upper storey of Parkside to provide a cultural arts space for exhibitions, performances, workshops and training for young people from the Central Coast. The planned use of the space (already at an advanced stage of construction) includes:
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Live performance room for bands and theatrical productions, with in-house PA and mixing desk, level load-in direct to stage, a kitchen/bar and the capacity to host an audience of up to 250 people
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Recording and mixing studio with the ability to record acts performing in the adjacent live room. The music studio will also provide the opportunity for training in audio production.
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Visual arts room to be used for workshops in numerous visual arts, particularly photography, sculpture and printing.
With the large live performance room, YAW will be extremely versatile, allowing for visual art exhibitions to share the space with band nights. The centrality of Parkside to the Gosford CBD (and therefore all major public transport) ensures that YAW is accessible to a large number of young people from across the Central Coast, and in keeping with providing universal access for young people, an elevator is being installed to allow entry from the Parkside 'shopfront'.
As well as their intention to use the Youth Arts Warehouse to host youth entertainment events and conduct training and workshops, RYSS has attracted the attention of numerous other groups interested in hiring the venue for their own youth-focused entertainment events and training programs. It is thus envisioned that the YAW will eventually become self-sustainable, and facilitate self-determination amongst the local youth with regard to cultural entertainment events in particular.
Management of Parkside
Parkside is managed by a Coordinator working 20 hours per week. The Parkside Coordinator facilitates all accounts and correspondence between Parkside and the tenant organisations within the building as well as general office administration, building maintenance and security.
The Parkside coordinator is responsible to the Parkside Board of Directors. The Board consists of two representatives of the tenants, a university lecturer as Chairman, and another member of the general public who volunteers their time.
The current model of management works well within the building, giving tenants an opportunity to communicate their needs through the Parkside Coordinator, as well as providing onsite maintenance for the general upkeep of the building. Ideally the Parkside Coordinator's role would be full time however due to financial restrictions this is just not possible. The tenants meet bimonthly to exchange information and provide support to each other and young participants.
Considerable sponsors have been sourced and our leaders have been Jeskah Steel (project management) and Raybal Building Services (site management). YAW supporters include: Parkside Gosford Ltd, Bunnings Warehouse, ACE Access & Scaffolds, Active Hire Group, Economy Waste Services, Plaster Master, Walker Bros Timber, Waters Cranes, Fletcher Insulation (Insulco) Sky Dome, Lakes Tiles, Stephen Moore Architect, Neometro Architects & planners, Wattyl Paints, Gosford City Council and WorkWise Central Coast Inc 'Work for the Dole' crew. Gosford Rotary, Gosford North Rotary, and Rotary Club of Terrigal have been invaluable project supporters. Financial sponsors are Regional Partnerships (Dept of Transport & Regional Services), Arts NSW (capital and co-ordinator), Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation and Clubs NSW (Woy Woy Leagues Club).
Parkside and Youth Arts Warehouse will be integral to the redevelopment of Gosford CBD and provides access for the Central Coast region's young people and families. This is a great community model from grass roots services up, to improve access, equity and quality of youth services now and into the future.
More information
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Regional Youth Support Services at Gosford (YAPA web article)
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Kim McLoughry, RYSS Service Manager
(02) 4323 2374
administration@ryss.com.au -
Fran White, Parkside Coordinator
02 4323 1060 -
Donnison's on the Park Licenced Restaurant www.donnisons.com.au
