Recording-2025-02-26T00:34:00.354Z

Youth Work Training in Victoria

• Strong and interconnected history of youth work training specific to Victoria.

• Professionalization of youth work has faced hurdles but has progressed due to graduate commitment to protect the profession.

• A critical mass of graduates has impacted the professional landscape of youth work.

Defining Young People

• Young people are often defined through their marginalization from mainstream society.

• Age-related restrictions limit what young people can do compared to adults.

• Certain groups are marginalized further by factors such as socioeconomic class, gender, and race.

• Research involved interviews with lecturers, curriculum developers, and students across Australian courses.

National Project on Youth Work

• Concurrent national project aimed at defining youth work and creating a national training package.

• Provided a platform for youth workers to discuss their roles, values, skills, and knowledge.

• High levels of agreement among workers about essential values in youth work, including respect, diversity, and human rights.

  • Emphasized the importance of workplace management, policy understanding, research, and program evaluation.

Core Values of Youth Work

• Victoria University courses influenced by values outlined in the national project.

• Strong emphasis on human rights, social justice, and the recognition of young people as active citizens.

  • Young people should be respected and valued for their current rights, not just their future potential.

• Shift from viewing youth workers as merely recreational leaders to advocates for young people's rights.

Focus on Young People

• Centrality of young people in youth work practices.

• Young individuals regarded as fully human with complete human rights.

• Youth workers strive to assist and advocate for young people to help them claim their humanity.

• Primacy of the young person over institutions (state, church, family, school, law) in youth work.

Policy and Practical Implications

• Awareness of the socio-economic implications of youth homelessness and unemployment.

• Evidence shows that early homelessness leads to lifelong risks of unemployment and homelessness.

  • Early intervention could alter costly societal outcomes.

Code of Practice

• The code of practice is voluntary and established by the sector for the sector.

• Organizations can adopt it as a guiding charter for their youth work practices.

• Collective organization among youth workers has led to the formation of a professional association.

• The professional association promotes the code to define the standards and expectations of youth work in Victoria.

Defining a Profession

• Importance of establishing clear definitions of what constitutes a profession.

• Essential factors include training, skills, and knowledge requirements to practice as a youth worker.

• Advocacy for a minimum standard of youth work training at a degree level.

• Argument against youth work practice without formal qualifications.