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.

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.

The YSAS 2022 – 2025 Strategic Plan is a product of collective effort involving our Board, Youth Advocates and young people accessing our services, and over 350 YSAS staff. We’ve also benefited from guidance and input by First Nations Elders, peers and partners.

We value honesty, accountability, empowerment and respect at YSAS. These values have been upheld by everyone involved in developing this Strategic Plan and will underpin its implementation.

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.

A resource for family work that shares family member and worker perspectives and includes a checklist for the facilitating a relationship with family members when working with young people.

Click to download our series of Family Work Tip Sheets that cover; the benefits of family and community work, Why we include family and community in the work we do at YSAS, how to create welcoming services, and negotiating consent, confidentiality and sharing information.