Annual Reports

In 2013 – 2014 YSAS has had the privilege of supporting 4,765 highly vulnerable and high risk young people, or those at risk of becoming so — a 27% increase on the previous year. We are most grateful to you all for helping young people to take control of their health and wellbeing and in so doing combat substance dependence and misuse, mental illness and social disconnection.

2014 -2015 was a momentous year for YSAS. We farewelled
both our long-standing Chairperson and our CEO, Paul Bird, who in a relatively short time made a big impact. We also welcomed six new Board members as representatives of our three shareholder organisations. YSAS Out of Home Care Toolbox was established in addition to 4,186 episodes of care through our alcohol and drug treatment services.

In 2015 – 2016 YSAS supported 8,455 young people who completed 4,478 episodes of care though our drug and alcohol treatment programs. It’s the year that 14 youth groups shared the significant recommendation for YSAS to raise the age of its alcohol and other drug programs from 21 to 25.

In 2017 YSAS supported 1,834 young people through 4,811 episodes of care in our alcohol and other drug treatment programs. The Youth Support Service assisted 417 individual clients in the same year headspace Collingwood and Frankston welcomed 1,417 new young people to our mental health services. The YSAS Marriage Equality = Equal Rights statement is included in this report.

In 2023, YSAS marked 25 years of continuous service delivery for young people and families who needed our assistance to secure a better future.

Our 2024 Annual Report provides a snapshot of what we achieved in 2024 across our main service areas: alcohol and other drugs community work, residential services, mental health, crime prevention, support services and youth participation. It also profiles some of our amazing staff and programs, including Victoria’s first Drug Checking Service, the Transformer program and our Lived and Living Experience Framework.

Resilience Based Practice is focussed on creating the conditions that enable young people and families to prevent harm, meet their needs, fulfil their aspirations, deal effectively with life stressors that trigger and drive health and behaviour problems. Resilience requires timely access to the right mix of resources and opportunities that enable people to meet their needs in ways that matter to them.

YSAS has a long-established practice of youth participation that brings lived and living experience knowledge and expertise of young people into the organisation to inform policies, practice, service delivery and decision making. In recognition of the existence and value of Lived and Living Experience within the YSAS Workforce, in 2022/23 YSAS commissioned a report to assess the readiness of the organisation to embed Lived and Living Experience Expertise within its workforce in a more formal and systematic way.

This report is based on a preliminary analysis of data from the 2025 Youth AOD Census that relate to young people who use YSAS Youth AOD Services. The report draws on Census data to create a more detailed understanding of the needs and characteristics of YSAS clients and considers implications for YSAS practice.

This report describes the Youth Support Service, a Victorian community based early intervention program focussed on diverting young people identified as being ‘at risk’ from becoming involved the criminal justice system.