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Finding your first job can be tough, something Dan* is currently experiencing firsthand. The 20-year-old has handed out hundreds of resumes online and in person, hoping someone will give him a shot. “It’s quite frustrating and dispiriting to be honest, because 95 per cent of resumes I hand out, I…

Senior Primary Health Outreach Nurse Nat Joyce isn’t your typical nurse. He is dedicated to supporting young people with their health, whether that’s physical, mental or sexual. To do that he doesn’t just use health care skills – he’s using case management and counselling skills as well. He says…

The first time Nathan Akoka was in a drug and alcohol withdrawal unit, he wasn’t a worker. He was a client. When he was 13 years old, he moved to Melbourne following some big life changes. He was feeling lost, so he started using substances to help cope. Eventually, he…

When I was 15, I drank so much that I fell unconscious on my bed. My dad rang me and I wasn’t able to speak to him, and he freaked out. We had to go to the hospital and the nurses were asking me questions like ‘do you drink a…

Lake Majstorovic is passionate about improving the lives of LGBTIQA+ young people. Growing up as a non-binary person in the Frankston area, they experienced first-hand what it’s like when mental health services aren’t designed for you. “There is a real dearth of understanding, and a kind of fear and hesitation…

When Marcus first learned about intersectionality, it was a light bulb moment. “It’s a theory from black feminists who are talking about a subjective experience they’ve had… about what it means to be a black woman, to be queer,” they say. For Marcus, an African American queer person with lived…

Support for young people often takes a one-size-fits-all approach. Youth worker Cihan Tohumcuer has seen how this cookie-cutter model has left Victoria’s Muslim community behind. Cihan is Muslim himself and grew up in Melbourne’s north watching many of his brothers and cousins using and dealing drugs. “Back…

Dave Pettingill has felt like a youth worker since he was three. He grew up with many foster brothers and sisters, and eventually, his parents used the family home as crisis accommodation. He loved meeting so many different kids. “From an early age I could see that…