Submission to the 2025-26 Victorian State Budget

1.1 Increase default contract terms to seven years for government funded community service organisations, including both service agreements and common funding agreements, as recommended by the Productivity Commission.  

1.2 Fund an independent review into the Victorian Government’s contracting and procurement arrangements to investigate how they could better incentivise collaboration, promote sustainability and enable innovation in community service delivery. 

1.3 Boost base funding to the community sector to meet the real cost of delivering essential services, including accounting for indexation.  

1.4 Address student placement poverty by working with the Commonwealth to introduce support payments for youth work students undertaking unpaid placements. 

Increase support to youth sector organisations so they can deliver high quality youthwork placements, including through: 

• Dedicated funding to youth sector organisations to ensure they have the resources and capacity to provide high quality student learning experiences and coordination.  
• Specific funding for peak bodies (including YACVic) to support placement capacity building for placements across the youth sector. 

2.1 Allocate funding over the next four years to fully implement the 74 initiatives in ‘Our Promise, Your Future: Victoria’s Youth Strategy 2022-27.’  

3.1 Develop a co-designed Victorian specific Youth Housing and Homelessness Strategy, focused on ending youth homelessness by coordinating services, supports, and interventions tailored to young people. To include: 

3.2 Fund the 500 supported housing places for young people experiencing homelessness and mental ill health, as promised through the mental health royal commission (Rec 25) and now overdue. 

4.1 Increase investment in tailored youth mental health supports and services beyond the headspace model, both in community and schools (see also recommendation 2.2 regarding investment in generalist youth workers to better support mental health prevention and early intervention). 

4.2 Invest in youth-led suicide prevention and mental health education that is place-based and supports capacity building, such as Live4Life.  

4.3 Fund the establishment of a non-government agency led by people with lived experience of mental illness or psychological distress, as promised through the mental health royal commission (Rec 29) and now overdue. 

4.4 Invest in increasing the capacity of the youth AOD sector, by: 

• Funding youth AOD practice leads, programs and services to address barriers to access and lengthy appointment wait-times. To focus on critical place-based and cohort-specific need, including for rural and regional Victoria, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people, LGBTIQA+ young people, and refugee and migrant communities.  
• Implementing 20 additional youth residential detoxification beds across Victoria.  

4.5 To support the rollout of the Victorian Governments new drug checking trial, invest in a co-designed information and social education campaign targeting young people 18-25 who use elicit substances.  

4.6 Scale-up the Victorian Trans and Gender Diverse Health Initiative to increase access to vital healthcare support, including specialised mental health and peer support. 

4.7 Invest in training and education for community and health sector professionals on best practice inclusive support for trans, gender diverse and non-binary young people, particularly in rural and regional areas, to increase accessibility to safe healthcare. 

4.8 Invest in place-based mental health and wellbeing programs to support LGBTIQA+ young people from multicultural, multifaith, and Aboriginal communities – including through the Healthy Equal Youth (HEY) project. 

5.1 Fund youth-specific family violence service responses, co-designed with children and young people, within the Orange Door Network, family violence services, child protection and other family services. This would ensure young people are supported as victim survivors in their own right, with unique needs distinct from children and adults.  

5.2 Invest in developing youth specific information and resources so young people understand family violence and where to access support specific to their needs. This must be designed and developed for young people, by young people. 

6.1 Increase funding to mainstream flexible in-school and remote learning options to support students with diverse learning needs to remain supported and engaged in school. Flexible learning options to be individualised, student-centred and student-led to ensure they are appropriate and accessible for all young people. 

6.2 Increase funding and expand eligibility criteria for programs such as Navigator, to support disengaged students much earlier.  

6.3 Invest in place-based collaboration to support trauma-informed and culturally safe, early intervention and prevention initiatives for young people in schools, rather than reactive punitive responses (see also recommendation 2.2regarding investment in generalist youth workers to better support mental health prevention and early intervention). 

6.4 Provide regular and ongoing trauma-informed professional development for teachers and other school staff to better understand: 

• The impacts of trauma on child brain development and its effect on behaviour; and  
• how to identify and respond to students impacted by trauma, such as adjusting their learning, having conversations about mental health and suicide, and linking them in with relevant services and supports.  

6.5 Agree to and fund recommendations 29, 30 and 50 of the Legal and Social Issues Committee Final Report from the inquiry into the state education system: 

• The Victorian Government investigate the need for additional appropriate supports for culturally and linguistically diverse students, with a view to establishing a program of Multicultural Support Officers (Rec 29).  
• That the Department of Education commit to funding that ensures the longterm stability of Out-of-School Hours Learning Support Programs (Rec 30). 
• That the Victorian Government review English as an Additional Language reference funding with a view to ensuring that every student requiring support is reached (Rec 50). 

6.6 Establish a student mental health taskforce to consult with students about their experiences and report back to government. 

7.1 Provide secure funding for youth crime prevention programs which keep high-need communities and young people safe and supported – including reinstating funding for the Youth Support Service run by the Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS).  

7.2 Increase investment in youth workers in high-need schools and community settings, recognising their central role in early intervention and prevention to divert young people from youth justice system (See recommendations 2.2 and 6.2).  

7.3 Fund concerted evidence-based approaches to youth justice reform, research and policy – including the Smart Justice for Young People Coalition.  

7.4 Fund the implementation of Working Together: An Action Plan to End the Over-representation of Particular Groups of Young People in the Criminal Justice System. 

8.1 Invest in the establishment of a Victorian Commissioner for Future Generations.  

8.2 Establish a Victorian child and youth advisory council on climate. Crucially, ensure accountability measures are established to track the implementation of youth council advice by government. 

8.3 Pilot the development of a framework co-designed with young people to address navigating conversations around climate anxiety and the rise of disasters and extreme weather events, in partnership with the youth mental health sector.  

8.4 Fund the development of a state-wide Disaster Resilience Coalition of young people to provide advice and expertise on the State Emergency Management Plan and the Municipal Emergency Management Plans, ensuring young people’s voices are included in disaster resilience at all levels of government. 

8.5 Scale-up place-based youth participation projects that build local skills and enhance qualification pathways for young people to respond to disasters and extreme weather events.  

9.1 Fund the development of a rural and regional transport fund to remove significant access barriers for young people and youth workers. To support the attendance of professional development, events, education, work and support services.  

9.2 Develop a comprehensive and place-based analysis of the public transport needs of young people, through engagement and co-design with young people and the youth sector.  

10.1 Provide ongoing investment to meaningfully implement current and upcoming recommendations from the Yoorrook Justice Commission. 

10.2 Appropriately fund and resource Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations delivering essential programs for Aboriginal people across housing, health, mental health, and youth justice.  

10.3 Expand dedicated funding for youth specific Aboriginal supports – such as through the Koorie Youth Council and Marram Nganyin Aboriginal Youth Mentoring Program.  

10.4 Fund training and development to strengthen cultural competency of mainstream organisations to enable best practice engagement and allyship.   

(See also: recommendations 3.1 (Aboriginal youth housing stock), 4.4 (cohort specific AOD support), 4.8 (LGBTIQA+ Aboriginal young people), 7.1 and 7.4 (youth justice addressing overrepresentation) and 12.1 (Anti-racism).  

11.1 Invest in policy, research and capacity building with disabled young people to ensure their voices are heard when implementing reforms from Victoria's Youth Strategy and Inclusive Victoria.  

11.2 Embed delivery of disability-led disability inclusion and awareness training across community, health, education and allied sectors to combat ableism and improve inclusive and accessible service delivery for this cohort. Training should be co-designed, led and delivered by and with disabled young people, such as Together Training. 

11.3 Dedicate funding to implement minimum accessibility standards across all generalist service providers in mental health, health, and housing services, co-designed with disabled people and the disability sector. 

11.4 Provide targeted funding to disability advocacy bodies working with disabled young people and the community sector so they can support young people to understand the changes to the NDIS and address system gaps within services. This includes ensuring organisations are supported to meet new compliance standards and supporting disabled young people to realise their rights. 

11.5 Dedicate funding to promote the Disability Liaison Officer program and fully fund the implementation of the Disability Identifier Project. 

11.6 Provide disability-specific career guidance for disabled young people transitioning from education to employment, provided by disability-led organisations and counsellors with lived experience of disability. 

12.1 Invest in youth focused initiatives in Victoria's Anti-Racism Strategy.  

12.2 Invest and expand whole-of-school approaches to combat racism, including tailored approaches for primary and secondary schools – such as Schools Standing up to Racism. 

12.3 Ensure ongoing funding and scale-up support programs for young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds, focusing on regional and rural areas. 

12.4 Increase funding for youth- and community-led programs which strengthen multicultural youth participation and integrate youth-led solutions into decision-making processes, such as Culture Spring.