FYA welcomes Brumby Government support for SSA students
The Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) welcomes the Victorian Government’s recent funding announcements to support same sex attracted young people. FYA is committed to improving the learning outcomes and life chances of all young Australians, including young people of diverse sexualities and gender identities.
FYA recognises that same sex attracted and gender diverse young people can experience high levels of social isolation, disengagement from education and reduced health outcomes as a result of social stigma, rejection and victimisation. This group of young Australians is often under-represented in funding and initiatives to support and redress these health and education challenges.
The Victorian Minister for Mental Health, Lisa Neville MP, has announced an important initiative to improve the mental health of same sex attracted young people through community suicide prevention programs.
This has been supported by the Victorian Minister for Education, Bronwyn Pike MP, who has provided $80,000 to Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria (GLHV) to develop a program to educate teachers about the negative effects of homophobia in Victorian schools and to help create a safer school culture. FYA commends this initiative and is committed to partnering with GLHV to establish a Safe Schools Coalition in Victoria.
“FYA is looking forward to working with teachers, schools and young people to tackle these important issues in our school system,” said Jen Sainsbury, who will lead FYA’s work on this project.
“Establishing a Safe Schools Coalition is an important step for Victorian schools as homophobia is prevalent in many Victorian schools and has a negative impact on the lives of young people, teachers and school staff,” she said. “We know that effective school-based programs that address homophobia in schools and support teachers in dealing with this challenge are urgently required.”
Jen was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2009 to investigate international best practice in challenging homophobia and supporting same sex attracted and gender diverse young people in schools.
YSPer Tim Kenworthy wins WA Youth Award
Tim Kenworthy, 2009 Young Social Pioneer, and the team from Youth Tree have won the Innovate! BHP Billiton Award at the WA Youth Awards last week. Youth Tree, founded by Tim Kenworthy, was selected for promoting citizenship by increasing the number of youth volunteers. The WA Youth Awards were established in 1999 to recognise outstanding young Western Australians aged 12 to 25 years.
Youth Tree is a youth-run non-profit organisation based in Perth, which uses creativity and fun to engage young people in volunteering. Its vision is to make youth volunteering mainstream. Youth Tree’s launch event was in January 2009, bringing together 80 young people and 20 different non-profit organisations. The organisation now has two branches: TEDxPerth and Big Help Mob. TEDxPerth, is Youth Tree’s massive, monthly idea-sharing event, which also provides a platform for non-profits to showcase their volunteer opportunities. Big Help Mob, Youth Tree’s hands-on branch, is a rent-a-crowd of diverse young people who provide massive bursts of people-power for local non-profits and communities while having serious fun in the process. Together, these two branches are building a community of aware, inspired and active young people in Perth.
Youth Tree currently has volunteer staff positions open on the TEDxPerth and Big Help Mob teams. Go to www.youthtree.org.au/apply.html to get involved.
Power Shift 2010
Power Shift 2010 is a series of youth climate summits that will inspire, educate, empower and mobilise young people to take action on climate change. These summits will bring together hundreds of young Australians to learn about the latest climate science and solutions, plan how to take action in their communities, and show our leaders that young people demand a safe climate future.
FYA appoints leading youth pioneer, Jan Owen AM, as CEO
The Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) is delighted to announce the appointment of Jan Owen AM to the role of Chief Executive Officer. This appointment is wonderful news for the future of young people in Australia.
Jan is recognised as one of the leading pioneers of Australia’s youth sector, having headed up Australia’s first youth representative bodies, as Chairperson of the National Youth Council of Australia and President of the Youth Affairs Council of Australia.
Jan founded the CREATE Foundation where she was the inaugural CEO and led the organisation for nine years. Since 2002, Jan has been the Executive Director of Social Ventures Australia, an organisation that has pioneered new investment, social innovation and entrepreneurship models to increase the impact of the social sector.
With over two decades of experience in these sectors, Jan has led numerous partnerships and collaborations including the National Coalition for Children and the National Children’s Summit; and, most recently, the Social Enterprise World Forum. In 2000 she received membership to the Order of Australia for service to children and young people.
Chairman of FYA, Mark Paton, said, “We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Jan Owen as our new CEO. With a truly exceptional career already under her belt, and as a recognised leader and innovator in the youth and social sectors, Jan will be instrumental in leading FYA into the next phase of our development.”
“Jan’s appointment represents a purposeful decision by our organisation to embark upon some exciting new directions while consolidating and building upon an already impressive track record of supporting young people in this country,” he said.
Jan said, “I am excited by my appointment as CEO of FYA and the opportunity to support and empower young people across Australia to realise their potential. FYA, and its Education Foundation Division, have made a tremendous contribution to the youth and education sectors over the past three decades.”
Minister Crean welcomes Education Foundation report on school funding
Federal Education Minister, the Hon Simon Crean MP, met with Prof Jack Keating, Education Foundation’s Thought Leader, and FYA’s Dr Lucas Walsh last Friday 9 July, to discuss the Government’s ongoing Review of Funding for Schooling and how Education Foundation’s new proposal, Resourcing Schools in Australia, can contribute to this process.
Prof Keating and Dr Walsh also spent time with the expert panel leading the review to talk in detail about how Education Foundation’s proposed funding model could help to overcome problems with Australia’s current parallel funding systems and make school resourcing fairer and more transparent.
Minister Crean recently released the final Terms of Reference for the review, which is the first comprehensive Government review of school funding in over 30 years. Since being released on 1 July, Education Foundation’s report has already made a major impact on the school funding debate with national media coverage and briefings taking place with key governement representatives and education sector authoriaties.
FYA supports the Staying Engaged project
FYA is proud to be supporting Staying Engaged, a project being run at the Royal Children’s Hospital’s Education Institute. The project investigates the educational needs of young people with health conditions, who are either in or transitioning to the senior (post-compulsory) years of schooling, that is Year 10 and above.
Previous research has shown that health conditions have an enormous impact on young people’s learning opportunities and their school attendance.
This project will identify the issues, needs and processes that young people with health conditions are faced with on a regular basis when pursuing information and the pathways to their further education and employment.
School funding can be fairer and more transparent
A major research report released today by Education Foundation, a division of The Foundation for Young Australians, argues for systemic reform to school funding in Australia.
Read the full report online or download by right clicking the link below and selecting ‘Save Link As’:
Resourcing schools in Australia PDF 799 KB
The report, titled Resourcing schools in Australia: A proposal for the restructure of public funding, recommends that all registered schools in Australia be funded under a single framework. This would help to overcome problems with Australia’s current parallel funding systems and make school resourcing fairer and more transparent, the report argues.
Schools First applications now open!
Applications for the 2010 Schools First Impact and Seed Funding awards are now open. Applications close at 5.00pm (AEST) on Friday, 30 July 2010. All applications received by 5.00pm (AEST) on Friday, 9 July 2010 will automatically be entered into the Early Bird competition prize draw to win an Apple iMac valued at $2800. Head to www.schoolsfirst.edu.au to apply!
Questions from schools will be answered via our Online Discussion Forums (12.00pm – 3.00pm, weekdays) or contact Schools First on 1800 649 141 1800 649 141 or info@schoolsfirst.edu.au.
Latest FYA Newsletter out now…
Hear all the latest news from FYA in our latest newsletter: Issue 2, 2010.
Read online or download a copy by right clicking here and selecting ‘Save Link As’.
PM Gillard supports the Tell Us campaign
Julia Gillard, recently sworn in as Australia’s Prime Minister, is a supporter of FYA’s Tell Us campaign. At a film shoot on Friday 21 May, as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, told Australian students across the country that she’ll be listening to their views when they complete the Tell Us survey at www.tellus.org.au
Ms Gillard met with Tell Us student spokesperson Lucinda Donaldson (pictured below) and urged all students to have their say on what really matters at school by taking part in Tell Us before it closes on June 30.
