National Youth Roundtable 2003 Member Profiles

Rebecca is a young single mother and at 23, she has overcome many personal difficulties to establish a career in youth work.

Now that her daughter is in school, she is working for a youth crisis accommodation centre and completing her degree part-time at Edith Cowan University.

Rebecca is keen to share her first-hand experience of working with homeless youth.

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Josh, 18, completed his HSC at Mullumbimby High in 2002. Josh has personal experience of homelessness in a regional area.

Despite the considerable hardship of living independently, Josh has volunteered a large part of his time to a number of community events - working voluntarily at a retirement village, at the local radio station and assisting with drama workshops.

He has been involved in focus groups and community forums regarding youth homelessness and believes he would be able to bring a ‘grass roots’ perspective to the Roundtable.

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Removed from home at the age of 16, and having spent two years in foster care, Mary, now 19, is interested in how young people can mature and develop independence skills from their carers.

She has been accepted into the Lead Tenant Program with the Regional Youth Accommodation Programs in Vicotria and volunteers her time with homeless young women.

She looks forward to being a carer herself and wants to pass on her qualities and skills to other young people in need.

Mary plans to develop a Code of Practice for foster carers and lead tenant carers.

She hopes this will remove the confusion and other factors that may hinder them from becoming carers, and lead to an increased number of placements for young people in need of accommodation.

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Lachie, at 17, has for the last three years been a Young Ambassador for Warwick Shire Council.

He is captain of the Scots PGC College and is extensively involved in debating, public speaking and youth forums.

Living on a farm, he has a keen interest in the problems facing young people in rural areas.

Lachie believes strongly in the value of opportunities such as the National Youth Roundtable for enabling young people to give something back to their communities and sees the active involvement of all young people as crucial for the success of youth based projects.

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John, 16, is a Palawa student at Claremont College.

In 2002, John worked with Elders and Indigenous students at Aboriginal Community Connections and undertook work experience with the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre.

John, through experience, has developed views on Aboriginal and foster care issues, which he hopes to expand upon through his experiences with the Roundtable.

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19-year-old Rachel, who is employed full-time as an administration assistant, is interested in drug abuse prevention and treatment and supporting transitions to independence.

Having participated in Youth Off the Streets long-term residential programs, Rachel would like to see more programs helping young people make the transition to independence from residential care.

Rachel has assisted in drug awareness programs, has been involved with a number of youth leadership programs and represented Youth Off the Streets at a Youth Conference in the USA.

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At 24, Jessica is a full-time youth and education services co-ordinator for the Australian Red Cross in Darwin.

Assisting in the co-ordination of a range of youth services, including the SHAK youth drop-in centre, has given her an insight into the challenges faced by young people in the Northern Territory and as the carer for her older sister, Jessica is committed to living in the Territory and further building local networks.

During her time on the Roundtable, Jessica is interested in looking at how young people with mental health issues access independent living in Darwin.

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