The Young Leaders Program is for young people aged 16-25 years who live, work or study in the City of Greater Dandenong. The program provides a unique opportunity for participants to work with likeminded individuals, develop leadership skills, and make a positive impact by planning and delivering community projects.
Applications for the 2024 Young Leaders will open this November.
The 2023 Young Leaders - Community Projects
Furthering the work of recent youth consultation findings, the 2023 Young Leaders have prioritised their community projects to focus on two prominent youth issues - racism and discrimination and climate change.
As one of the most culturally diverse communities in all of Australia, the City of Greater Dandenong celebrates this rich diversity. Despite this richness, a recent report published by Victoria University examined experiences of racism and discrimination in the catchments of Greater Dandenong and Casey, highlighted three-out-of-five participants or their families had experienced racism in the previous 12 months, mainly at work, when shopping, or at school.
The 2023 Young Leaders Racism and Discrimination community project has been developed to further understand the experiences of local young people, 12-25 years, whose voices were largely not captured as part of this study. This will be achieved through a Youth Forum and Community Survey.
Diversity Rise Youth Forum - Tuesday 12 September
The 2023 Greater Dandenong Young Leaders will host the Diversity Rise Youth Forum for young people aged 14-25. A panel of young guest speakers will explore meaningful conversations about racism, discrimination and cultural awareness and will inspire positive transformation and solidarity.
Read more information about the Diversity Rise Youth Forum
Racism and Discrimination in Greater Dandenong Survey
The 2023 Young Leaders have developed a survey to further understand local young people’s (12 – 25 years) experiences of racism and discrimination and to learn what are the barriers to young people not reporting their experience. The survey also asks young people to consider trusted ways that would encourage them to seek support and to report. The findings from this survey will be collated into a report to assist Council’s Youth and Family Services to advocate for improved reporting pathways and support services for young people in our community.
Have Your Say - Complete the Young Leaders Racism and Discrimination in Greater Dandenong Survey
Climate Change
The 2023 Young Leaders through the feedback identified by students at the Climate Changers Forum in June 2023 identified that young people in Greater Dandenong are concerned about climate change and would like Council to support environmental education and action in the community.
The Young Leaders have created an educational campaign for young people regarding reducing textile waste and home recycling. This campaign has been designed in consultation with Council’s Waste Department and aligns with Council's Waste Education Program.
This includes facts sheets, social media content and hosting a climate change stall which will include a clothes swap and recycling activity at Greater Dandenong’s Youth Fest 2023.
Climate Change Stall at Youth Fest 2023 - Thursday 28 September
Clothes Swap
Young people aged 12–25 are invited to participate in a Clothes Swap at Youth Fest 2023. Please note the clothing items that will be accepted for swapping are jackets, jumpers, scarves, and headscarves only. All items must be clean, undamaged and in good condition.
Recycling Activity
Learn about how to reduce your textile waste and get some great recycling tips from our 2023 Young Leaders at Youth Fest 2023. You can learn how recycle correctly, reduce your environmental footprint and win some awesome prizes.
2022 Young Leaders Projects
Youth Summit: Conquering 2022 and Beyond
The 2022 Young Leaders were the first ever team to co-design activities for Council’s biennial Youth Summit. Participants chose the event theme, guest speaker and workshops – aiming to build young people’s understanding of resilience and support them to ‘bounce back’ from the challenges of COVID-19.
The Youth Summit brought together 120 Year 9 and 10 students from local secondary schools for a whole day of activities. A key role of the Young Leaders was planning and facilitating a series of Vox Pop workshops to capture feedback from young people – providing a platform for students to speak up about the issues that matter to them. A summary of consultation findings can be found here:
Youth Summit 2022 - Summary Report – 722.2KB
Proud 2 Be Me
Recognising the immense impacts of harassment and discrimination on LGBTIQA+ young people’s health and wellbeing, the 2022 Young Leaders developed ‘Proud 2 Be Me’, a strengths-based awareness campaign that aims to build understanding, allyship and inclusion.
Proud 2 Be Me platforms the voices of LGBTIQA+ people, highlighting their many strengths and unique qualities – providing a critical reminder that there is so much more to a person than their sexuality and gender identity. To date, the campaign has reached more than 6,000 community members.
2021 Young Leaders Projects
Each year, the Young Leaders are supported to research, plan, deliver and evaluate community projects. The following youth-led projects were undertaken in 2021.
Beyond the Surface
Through extensive research, the Young Leaders discovered that concerns relating to body image are prevalent amongst young people in our community, and identified that there was a lack of culturally relevant resources to raise awareness of this issue. Wanting to address this gap, the Young Leaders developed ‘Beyond the Surface’, a strengths-based awareness campaign that aims to combat negative body image and promote self-acceptance among young people.
To date, their social media campaign has reached more than 10,000 people.
Body Esteem Workshop
The 2021 Young Leaders also developed a body esteem workshop. Utilising evidence-based, interactive activities adapted from the Butterfly Foundation, this 30-minute workshop seeks to boost young people’s self-esteem by building their understanding of ‘body image’ and imparting key strategies to be ‘body kind’ to oneself and others.
The workshop is available for delivery in secondary schools and community settings for groups of up to 25 young people. For booking enquiries, please phone 9793 2155.
School Career Guidance Benchmarking Project
Recognising that young people in Greater Dandenong have lower education completion rates and post-school qualifications, and experience one of the highest youth disengagement rates in Victoria, the Young Leaders saw a clear need to strengthen learning and career pathways for young people in our community.
Acknowledging the valuable role that careers guidance staff play in supporting young people’s engagement in work and study, the 2021 Young Leaders developed a benchmarking project to capture a snapshot of the services and supports that secondary schools offer; and to identify any barriers that young people face, where further attention may be required.
The Young Leaders surveyed sixty-six students, and staff from seven local secondary schools. A summary of their findings can be found here:
School Career Guidance Benchmarking Project - Summary Report - 885.6KB
2020 Young Leaders Projects
Healthy Minds, Healthy Lives
The Young Leaders designed and facilitated a wellbeing workshop for newly arrived young people, teaching practical strategies to help individuals adapt to the negative impacts of COVID-19 and promote positive health and wellbeing. 90 students from Noble Park English Language School participated in the workshop, where they had the chance to learn about mental health, connect with local support services, and practice a range of fun self-care techniques.
Youth Leadership Forum
Recognising a need to amplify the voices of young people, the Young Leaders developed a Youth Leadership Forum to create a platform for young people to come together and discuss important youth issues. 50 student leaders from 8 secondary schools participated in the event, exploring solutions for a range of problems relating to mental health, youth employment, and equity and discrimination. Young people's feedback was generated into a set of recommendations, which has been shared with Council and participating schools, so that decision-makers can understand and better support the needs of young people in Greater Dandenong.
Youth Leadership Forum - Summary of key recommendations - 397KB
2019 Young Leaders Projects
Community Safety Project
The Young Leaders’ community safety project, Youth Exceeding Expectations, aimed to challenge community perceptions of young people as the perpetrators of antisocial or criminal behaviour in Central Dandenong. The group delivered a ‘pop up event’ at Dandenong Station, to positively activate the space and engage with commuters.
Mental Health Project
The Young Leaders identified the impact of technology and social media as an emerging challenge influencing young people’s mental health. Their approach to address this challenge included:
- Delivering a Safe Socials Workshop for young people 12-16 years, to help mitigate the risks and pitfalls experienced when engaging online.
- Developed Beyond the Screen – a tip sheet on how to manage the use of technology.
Beyond The Screen Tip Sheet - 4.8MB - Presented to youth professionals at the Greater Dandenong Youth Network during Mental Health Week.
Health and Wellbeing Project
The Young Leaders produced a life skills resource to support newly arrived and migrant young people who have a caring role. The Young Leaders recognised that these young people can often take on additional responsibility in supporting their family as they settle in Australia. The resource includes information relating to healthcare, mental health, employment, health eating and financial management.
