Who catches young people when they fall through the cracks?
A conversation with a local youth service in Deniliquin raised a question that deserves more attention: what happens when mainstream education is not working for a young person, and the alternatives are not designed around what they need?
Some young people are described as difficult to manage and moved into alternative learning arrangements. Yet these arrangements may require independent study skills, confidence and stability that the young person has not had the opportunity to develop. When support does not match the person, disengagement can deepen. This is not a criticism of individual teachers or services. It is an invitation to think about how our systems connect.
Belonging before pathways
Young people need more than a referral, a program or a place to spend time. They need trusted relationships, a sense of safety, meaningful opportunities, supportive practices and people who recognise their strengths. Belonging is not a reward for succeeding. It can be the starting point that makes learning, contribution and growth possible.
One inspiring example is BackTrack in Armidale (https://backtrack.org.au/), whose holistic youth work draws on the Circle of Courage: Belonging, Mastery, Independence and Generosity. The four ideas offer a useful question for any youth initiative: are we helping young people feel part of something, learn and develop competence, have a say in their lives, and contribute to others? See also this video: https://vimeo.com/1025328682.
What might a youth centre become?
In Deniliquin, we are working with local partners and young people to activate the Youth Centre while strengthening the social capital and community readiness that could sustain it. The immediate work is practical: listen to young people, create welcoming opportunities to gather, connect services and residents, and build confidence through small steps.
Over time, could a centre like this offer life skills, practical learning, a youth-led café or social enterprise, and pathways into further education and employment? These are possibilities to explore together, not predetermined outcomes. The young people themselves need to help shape what emerges.
From individual services to collective capacity
No single organisation can carry the full responsibility for young people’s wellbeing. Families, youth workers, schools, First Nations organisations, local government, volunteers and community groups each hold different relationships, knowledge and resources. Connecting those assets is part of the work.
We have been exploring how a Community of Practice and shared contributions might strengthen the Centre. This could include coordinating activities, sharing expertise, considering rosters and clarifying the governance, safeguarding and operational responsibilities needed to make participation sustainable. Social capital is not just knowing people. It is the trust and relationships that help people act together. Collective efficacy grows when a community begins to believe, through experience, that it can make a difference.
Learning from the Edward River
The Edward River is central to the landscape and life of Deniliquin, on Wamba Wamba and Perrepa Perrepa Country. Water offers a metaphor for community development. It flows through different places, responds to the landscape, connects environments and supports life along the way.
Our work with communities can be more like water: attentive to context, adaptable rather than rigid, and able to find pathways when established routes are not serving people well. Co-design is not simply asking for opinions on a finished plan. It means making room for young people and community partners to influence the direction, decisions and action.
A slow burn worth sustaining
There may be no dramatic breakthrough in a single meeting or activity. Community readiness is built through repeated conversations, showing up, listening, making commitments and following through. It is a slow burn, and that is not a weakness.
I am grateful to work alongside people in Deniliquin who continue to care, imagine and contribute, and to support initiatives in both regional and metropolitan communities. Holistic youth development is not simply about fixing problems or keeping young people occupied. It is about creating the conditions for them to belong, learn, contribute, shape their futures and pursue their dreams.
Dimitrios Papalexis | Soulgen, Where people, ideas and communities come alive.
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