Brighter Future For Australian Indigenous Youths

Introduction 

Statistics show that an Indigenous person's life expectancy in Australia is 71.4 years compared to 81.4 years for others. Even with Government initiatives such as Closing the Gap, a big gap still exists between indigenous Australians and the rest of the population. Youth is a critical stage at which life-changing decisions regarding one's career and employment opportunities are made. Youths from our community have limited future opportunities in their reach and our goal is to change that.

Report 

Multiple solutions are needed to tackle this option, first is a safe space for young people, in the heart of Australia temperatures are too hot to be outside. We aim to build community spaces for young people that are sheltered and have access to safe drinking water. We also aim to breakdown barriers for youths that drop out of education, often to lack of cultural understanding in school and language barriers. This project engages and responds to recommendations from the youths themselves. A donation of $25 provides a sheltered space for youth to meet in a safe environment.

Thank you for your support

Introduction 

Youth is a critical stage at which life-changing decisions regarding one's career and employment opportunities are made. Youths from our community have limited future opportunities in their reach and our goal is to change that.

Report 

We aim to breakdown barriers for youths that drop out of education, often to lack of cultural understanding in school and language barriers. This project engages and responds to recommendations from the youths themselves. This project will drive down the number of Indigenous youth in and entering the Australian national criminal justice system, by engaging the youths to tackle their inequalities we will also reduce educational dropout rates and empower these remote and struggling communities to create ambassadors that will influence future change at a national level.

Thank you for your support

Introduction 

Several projects are trying to tackle the social gap among the Indigenous people in Australia. This project is focused on young people preferably young females looking to access a training program, educational event, or admission to the education system as well as improving the community to engage and inspire youths to break the traditional life cycle. The objective is to enhance their skills to become ambassadors for change within their community and Australia Behind

Report 

Public Spaces are a need and loved by the communityIt's too hot, shading and water is needed Long term research has been done and is being done by UNSW and community Disability, mental health issues means that community ended up in the criminal justice system - research project lead by UNSW. Key Aboriginal researchers, being led by the community, were the centre of the research. 2015 feedback the research and outcome showed it had to have community lead projects to be successful 2,500 people access the police station drought remoteless huge issues activism strong history  energy poverty (community was installing own aircon and ended up with thousands of dollar bills that they can't currently afford) Now leading to further fines that can't be paid overcrowded housing driving unlicensed as cancelled licenses due to lack of support and funds criminalisation of disadvantage people Independently resourced work Paul Ramsey Foundation funding and partnership 'Breaking cycle of disadvantage' Improving Health and Wellbeing and the gap. UNSW small funding available - capacity and control Youth Justice Food and Water Security Connection to culture is essential 

Community Garden - Space / MASTERPLAN Student involvement, engineering students successful produce currently, 2019 February site visit Dr McKenzie Urban Heat research, took equipment to do heat studies. Result shows 65 degrees at 4pm surfaces that hot in public spaces.

Youth spaces that didn't feel comfortable in Identification and Heat impact on waiting High diabetics and cardiac issues within the community - connected with the need to walk and heat makes it not possible 

Water needed in public space Don't jump in and build, master planning and involving the community. 

Pauline Slow because of involvement of the community but it's the best route Moving at the speed of trust

Thank you for your support

Introduction 

Statistics show that an Indigenous person's life expectancy in Australia is 71.4 years compared to 81.4 years for others. Even with Government initiatives such as Closing the Gap, a big gap still exists between indigenous Australians and the rest of the population

Report 

We have met with the local community board and identified new initiatives for the youths. We have approved (donations permitting) to install a community garden for youths, create seating and safe pathways including shading and lighting in seating areas, to engage the youth and provide access to clean water for safe drinking and hand washing. In addition to creating a safe community space for youths we also will identify and provide training and scholarships to aspiring youths. We only have $1643 to go to reach our target!

Thank you for your support

Dear Supporters,

COVID-19 has hit everyone hard but for a community that pre-pandemic had the highest suiside rates and unrest the issue is growing at a rapid rate and government funding has been pushed to mainstream initiatives leaving a cultural gap that needs our help to address urgently. 

Our project aim is to improve the lives and wellbeing of young indiginous youths in Australia. We know that the Australian justice system represents a high number of youths from this culture and this impacts education and support for these young people. We have been working directly with the community and engaging them with assessing their needs and this includes bringing new spaces available for young people to engage with each other, services and support breaking the expected route of crime or mental health issues. 

This project has a strong plan that has been worked on directly with the youths and community members as we aim to empower them to ensure the success of the project however COVID-19 has seen lockdownsm, delays and a large decrease in funding for our project. We now appeal to our network to help us fundraise enough funds to kick start this project before the end of 2020 as the need is now greater than ever. 

A report led by the University of Western Australia has played a key role in outlining the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians, revealing that the pandemic has put many Indigenous Australians at risk of severe psychological distress. 

The Australian government has identified the social and wellbeing impact of COVID-19 and a number of funding has been made available but this funding has been pushed towards mainstream initiatives and support networks across Australia that are not accessed by the Indigenous communities. Therefore our project is essential to saving and protecting lives. 

Thank you for your donation and supporting our project, every penny is going towards upskilling the youths of our communities and we invite you to share and help us to continue to fundraise for this project, particularly through this challenging time for us all. 

If you have any questions please contact us on hello@actionchange.org 

With Gratitude,

Australian Indigenous Youths