Consulting

About YACWA Consulting

YACWA offers fee for service consulting work covers four main areas:

1. Strategic development. YACWA can work with both Government and not-for-profit organisations in youth planning and strategic development. We ensure that youth participation and co-design is front and centre of organisational frameworks, policies, plans and strategies. 
2. Consultations and engagement. YACWA designs high quality youth and key stakeholder consultations and engagements. The work we can do in this space ranges from youth-friendly survey design to engagement workshops, interviews, journey mapping and more. We are highly skills at supporting young people to co-design and co-deliver consultation and engagement with their peers.  
3. Events and forums. support in the planning and delivery of youth-led events  
4. Training and skill development: equipping people within your organisation in how they can be responsive in addressing the needs of young people

Why YACWA? 

As leaders in the field of youth participation best practice, our work is supported by academic research, proven training and our extensive engagement with children and young people. YACWA strongly believes that they are the experts in their own experiences, and we are dedicated to helping your organisation ensure young peoples’ equal access to participation in community decision-making processes. 

Benefits & Pricing

YACWA offers the flexibility of delivering training and workshops either in person or online by our passionate and experienced youth consultants.  

YACWA members are entitled to a 10% discount on all consulting services.  

To become a member, sign up at the YACWA Membership Portal or contact Matthew Tomich (Member & Community Engagement Officer) at matthew@yacwa.org.au to find out more.  

Through attending YACWA’s training and workshops you can expect to: 

• Gain fresh ideas and different ways of thinking 
• Shape and maintain the relevance of your group  
• Support the sustainability of your group 
• Build the skills of next generation 

Each of our training and workshops can be adjusted to suit the unique needs of your group. To discuss how we might be able to help your organisation or for pricing, contact Lianda Gibson (Business Development and Consultancy Manager) at lianda@yacwa.org.au to find out more. 

Training & Workshops

TRAINING FOR THE SECTOR 

Involving Young People in Community Groups and Committees 

Do you want to support young people to step into their potential as leaders in the community?  

Our training will equip you with the skills, knowledge and resources for how to successfully design and deliver best practice youth groups within your organisation. This training will enable you to understand the benefits of youth participation and strategies for meaningfully engaging young people within your community groups, committees and advisory groups.  

This training will enable you to learn how to: 

• Appeal to young people’s motivations  
• Address practical considerations for engagement
• Create an inclusive, youth-friendly culture in your organisation 

Youth Engagement & Participation  

Want to know how you can best champion the voices of young people? 

Embedding the voices of young people in the design and delivery of services will ensure that you get the best outcomes for your organisation. Our Youth Participation Training will enable you to determine how you can best work alongside young people to help build their confidence in the work of your organisation and wider community. We will discuss the importance of meaningful engagement, common issues or challenges faced by young people with engagement, and techniques for how you can best support and amplify their experiences.  

Youth Work and Advocacy 

Want to know how you can advocate for clients on an individual, organisational and systemic level? 

Youth workers are advocates for the health and wellbeing needs of young people, which is why it is important to know how you and your organisation can work towards addressing structural barriers through advocacy to improve outcomes for young people.  

This workshop will provide you and your organisation with real world examples and tools for how to advocate: 

• With or on behalf of young people  
• For change within your organisation’s policies, practice and governance 
• To influence change in policy, practices and resourcing across local, state and federal systems of governance 

TRAINING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Everything you need to know about being part of a Youth Advisory Groups 

Interested in levelling up your skills to join or improve your Youth Advisory Group? 

This training is for young people to learn about what a Youth Advisory Group is and why they may want to join one (or even set one up on their own!) This is an opportunity to:

• Know what skills you can bring to your group to harness its potential
• Understand what makes a great Youth Advisory Group, and pitfalls to avoid
• How to advocate to your organisation when you see opportunities for improvement

Young Changemaker Workshop  

Are you passionate about advocating for change on issues affecting young people? 

Young Changemaker provides an avenue for young people to express their concerns and get inspired to reach out and speak up to decision makers to influence change. Utilising YACWA’s advocacy toolkit, young people will have the opportunity to deep-dive into real world examples to tackle issues that they are passionate about and learn strategies for how to engage the broader community to encourage collective action.   

This workshop is peer-led by our team of youth consultants who bring their own unique lived experiences and wisdom to support young people’s transition into changemakers to generate innovative ideas to address the issues or challenges facing them and their communities, and to facilitate their transition into becoming change makers.  

Our Clients  

Over the last few years, we have had the pleasure of supporting the following organisations to champion the voices and experiences of young people:  

• Australian Red Cross 
• Centrecare 
• Child and Adolescent Health Services 
• City of Bayswater 
• City of Canning
• City of Cockburn 
• City of Fremantle 
• City of Gosnells 
• City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder 
• City of Melville 
• City of Rockingham 
• City of South Perth 
• City of Stirling 
• City of Wanneroo 
• Commissioner for Children and Young People 
• Curtin University 
• Department of Communities 
• Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) 
• Harvey Local Drug Action Group 
• Mental Health Commission 
• MercyCare 
• Passages Resource Centre 
• Shire of Ashburton 
• Short Term Accommodation for Youth (STAY) Geraldton 
• Starick Services 
• Town of Victoria Park 
• WA Aids Council 
• WA Police 
• White Ribbon Australia
• YMCA 

Youth Consultants

Caitlin

Caitlin is an enthusiastic young person. Currently studying Behavioural Science, Social Justice, and Politics, they are dedicated to applying their knowledge and lived experience to help better the representation, inclusion, and empowerment of young people. They believe it is vital that young people are meaningfully included in the creation, implementation, and review of strategies, policies, and initiatives that impact them. They have experience on multiple councils and reference groups, such as YACWA's COVID-19 Steering Group, the Fremantle Youth Network, and as president of their university's LGBTQIA+ group. In their spare time, they enjoy dance, podcasts, and phone calls with their nan.

Cheyeanne

Cheyeanne is a young person with a passion for human rights, social justice, and LGBTQIA+ activism. Cheyeanne has worked within a number of think-tanks, research centres and non-for profits, most recently creating resources to help LGBTIQA+ young people better navigate life under COVID. Cheyeanne currently volunteers on the Youth Pride Network committee and has previously volunteered for her university's guild as the LGBTIQA+ convenor. She is a political science and international relations, and Korean studies honours graduate, competing her honours thesis on inter-Korean relations and human rights from an ontological security perspective. Cheyeanne is a dedicated researcher and is committed to ensuring intersectionality is at the forefront of her work.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth is a young person with a big dream to transform our education system and how we prepare young people for their futures! She is the founder of Purposeful, a social enterprise helping young people to create meaningful work and future pathways for themselves. During her time at university she was a Director at Bloom, a youth-led incubator that acts as the catalyst for early-stage founders to begin their entrepreneurial journey in WA. She is passionate about having powerful conversations that shake up the way people think and has had many epic opportunities to do just that through her roles as a Fogarty scholar, TEDx presenter and BCG Scholarship recipient.

Finlaey

Finlaey is an impassioned, queer 20 year old youth mental health advocate who has worked and volunteered for years in the youth mental health space. She has been employed within government spheres such as the Mental Health Commission, WA Country Health Service, Local Government and Shire Youth Precincts, as well as volunteering and fundraising for change within NGO spaces such as the Western Australian Association for Mental Health, Headspace Bunbury, the Black Dog Institute and Youth Focus. During her advocacy she has spoken up for the rights of young people experiencing mental health challenges on a variety of platforms, including Triple J Hack and Channel 10. When she is not studying her Bachelor of Arts (majoring in Journalism & Creative Writing), she is working on the mental health awareness podcast she hosts, or at the beach! She is determined to make the Western Australian healthcare and youth sector a kinder, safer, and more inclusive place for a diversity of young people with lived experience of mental ill health and AOD struggles.

Isabella

Isabella is passionate about advocating for and lifting the voices of young people to make systemic change within WA. They are completing their Honours in Psychology with a focus on Clinical Perfectionism and apply their combined lived experience and education to help reform practices and policies to reflect the diverse needs of young people across WA. Isabella strongly believes in the power of lived experiences acknowledging all intersectionalities in helping promote and create sustainable change. Isabella has a vast array of experiences as a Youth Consultant and Co-Design Facilitator, including being a member of YACWA’s Youth Steering Group for the Young People’s Priorities for Action: Mental Health and AOD 2020 – 2025, which went through cabinet in March 2022. Isabella also works as a Youth Consultant, Educator and Facilitator for the Youth Disability Advocacy Network (YDAN) and People with Disabilities WA (PwDWA) and is Co-chair of the Youth at Risk Network (YARN). In their spare time, they volunteer with Boorloo Justice, a grassroots organisation campaigning the Bla(c)k Lives Matter Movement through centring First Nations and POC within the events industry, and is an Independent Visitor across WA prisons, helping ensure the rights and well-being of inmates.

Jake

Jake is a young advocate, change maker, and storyteller. Humbled by the compassion received from mental health community advocates and enterprises during a time of distress, he has branched out into myriad youth spaces, using his natural empathy and curiosity to build meaningful connections with his peers. Jake has been involved in Youth Mental Health advocacy with the WA Association for Mental Health, brought passionate young people together to solve systemic issues with YACWA and the Mental Health Commission, and is empowering a generation of students to strive for career pathways that align with themselves with Purposeful, among other things. Reflecting on its value in his story, he is driven by the power of anecdotes and emotion, endeavoring to learn and share as much wisdom and experience as he can.

Troy

Troy is a young person who has lived in regional areas for most of their life and is passionate about driving change to ensure that the people who are not usually thought of are at the forefront of your mind, ensuring that they can create a equitable future for West Australian young people. He is studying mental health peer work and community services to better facilitate conservations in a trauma informed way with young people, they hope to complete more education in community development and policy. They have worked with organisations like headspace Pilbara & Mandurah, SHQ, Youth Pride Network, the Child and Adolescent Health Service, Millennium Kids, the Mental Health Commission and Pride in Peel being on the board, advisory committees to secretary of YPN. These organisations focus on areas of young people, climate change/ environmental conservations, LGBTQIA+ advocacy and health & mental health.