Round 2

Blue Mountains Youth Council 12 to 17
$8,650
To develop a series of safe events for young people in the area.  The aim of the safe events to create early intervention for young people making life choices.

Danielle Taylor and group, 13 to 17
$10,000
To address teenage pregnancy among Indigenous young women in Kununurra and surrounding community, with an overall aim to minimise unplanned teenage pregnancies.

The Network of Women Students Australia, 20 to 22
$10,000
To deliver violence protection strategies to young women at university.

Matt O’Connor and group, 18 to 23
Toowong
$10,000
To address youth suicide & mental illness by reaching out to students in schools, through a Reach Out! Road Trip, that encourages young people to seek help and build new skills.

Melissa Abu-Gazaleh, 21
Wollongong
$9,000
To run ‘Illawarra’s Best Catch’, a public forum that celebrates and recognises the contribution of young men in the local area, a program that aims to change negative perceptions and mis-representations of young men.

Michael Williams and group, 15 to 17
Newcastle
$3,621
To address negative perceptions of aerosol art through provision of a legal art space.

Melbourne Grammar School Students
Grimwade House
$9,453
Created welcoming packs for international players to Melbourne for the Homeless (Soccer) World Cup to be held at Birrarung Marr in December 2008.

Round 1

Noah Ariel, 25, and Group, VIC
RY Media 
$10,000  
Noah identified social isolation amongst refugees as a community issue, and responded with a project that will teach young refugees to communicate and develop audio content to share their stories with other Australians.  He developed RY Media to redress negative perceptions of marginalised young people in the media, where young people and community leaders are encouraged to create and disseminate media that shares their communities’ stories to the wider Australian public.   An intensive series of workshops will be held in 2007 in which people from refugee, Indigenous and mainstream communities will learn how to produce audio content of their experiences.  The audio content will be hosted on an RY Media web-hub and will be promoted to radio programs and other media outlets to maximise exposure of the project.

Edwin Attril, 17, SA 
'ActNow'
$6,600
This award will support a series of weekly public theatre workshops that aim to address political issues in a positive environment.   The theatre workshops will encourage young people to meet, discuss debate and exchange political views creatively and artistically, providing an introduction to politics using theatre as a tool for social change.  Examples of these activities include discussions on current affairs, role plays, using invisible theatre, improvisations, media training, script analysis and developing short scenes.  This project, called DIY Democracy will provide an opportunity for young people who have little or no political experience to discuss issues in a supportive environment.  DIY Democracy also aims to provide young people, aspiring to a career in performing arts with a lasting impression of using theatre as a tool for social change as they continue their careers.

Julia Colin, 21, and Group, ACT
ACT otherWISE
$9,990
This award will support ‘ACT otherwise’, a group of young people from Canberra, to deliver three projects that address environmental sustainability issues, and motivate other young people to make serious changes in their lives and communities.  The three projects will use different methods to communicate specific environmental issues and promote change, they are; 1) a documentary focusing on the issues of climate change and uranium mining; 2) free classes on textiles, and the benefits of clothing recycling, and; 3) an environmentally produced music festival.  The projects aim to raise the profile of environmental sustainability issues, and motivate other young people to make serious and necessary change in their lives and communities.

Naomi Godden, 22, WA 
Youth Allowance and Regional Young People: Access to Higher Education
$8,000
This initiative seeks to address rural access to higher education as being inhibited by financial barriers, specifically the Youth Allowance income support system. Naomi aims to publish a comprehensive research report outlining regional Australia’s experiences with the current Youth Allowance system, and the impact of the eligibility criteria of this system on accessing and completing higher education. This evidence is then to be utilised in advocacy and lobbying for equitable rural access to higher education.  Naomi will undertake research with five regional communities in Australia about young people and families’ experiences with the Youth Allowance system.  With the results, Naomi aims to lobby for change through the media, Ministerial meetings, academia, and university networks.

Vinay Menon 20, and Group, WA 
'World Aware'
$2,970
‘World Aware’ is the initiative that aims to marginalise the cultural differences between young people from Australian-born backgrounds and young people from the Sudanese community.   This initiative will provide Sudanese youth with an opportunity to work alongside young people from the broader community encouraging dialogue and understanding between the two groups.  Sudanese youth will plan and coordinate a cultural event in Perth to commemorate International Youth Day, with six mentoring and leadership workshops to be held in the lead-up to the event.   This will assist Sudanese youth with skills in literacy, communication, self-expression, public speaking, and media & promotions.  Self-expression will be an important part of the workshops, where Sudanese young people are encouraged to share their stories about Sudan and what they enjoy or find challenging about their life in Australia.

James Murphy, 24, VIC 
'kerekere'
$9,000
'Kerekere' is a social enterprise selling free trade coffee and redistributing the profits to the consumer’s chosen community group, based at the University of Melbourne.  The enterprise model was developed in response to young peoples’ desire to access daily opportunities to pursue social justice, and Youth Change Makers funding will go towards creation of a documentary and publications, attending conferences and festivals, and evaluation.  Kerekere also provides support to young people in the community with barriers to employment, seeking to achieve social justice through social development and social change.  Through kerekere, James is striving to increase social inclusion, and access to economic resources by providing opportunities for all involved for a sustainable livelihood, from the free trade coffee providers to the local young contributing to the social enterprise. 

Mary Maluk, 24, and Group, TAS
MY Voice (Multicultural Youth Voice)
$9,982
MY Voice is a group of young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds who aim to address sexual health issues through a youth facilitated forum.  The youth forum will deliver workshops and activities which explore sexual health and identity, relationships and gender, with an aim to increase communication between young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds and Australian-born young people.   Service providers will attend practice development sessions to reinforce the messages from young people, further develop their skills, and increase accessibility of their service for young people from diverse groups.

Fiona Sowden, 21,
Fiona’s Disability Awareness (FEEDA), ACT 
$5,570
This award will support the FEEDA program, a disability awareness program in schools around Canberra delivered by Fiona.  The initiative aims to challenge assumptions and create positive change in the way young people perceive people with a disability, and provide students with the opportunity to see and use some of the equipment people with a disability use as part of their everyday lives, as well as giving an opportunity to act as a support person to a student who has a disability.  Fiona aims to bridge a gap in disability awareness education, and change attitudes, understanding and acceptance towards people with disabilities.

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