Mission Australia - TRANSFORM

Help us give young people the chance to break free

Without guidance and support it's easy to make the wrong choices...
Click here to donate $30 to help fund
$60 will help provide a qualified case manager to work with a young person in need for one week
$90 will help fund a part-time clinical nurse for one day to work with young people at risk of drug and alcohol abuse

• One in four Australians aged 14 to 19 have used an illegal drug*
• 44,0002** homeless Australians are under the age of 25
• Nearly 220,0003*** young people aged between 15 and 24 are unemployed
• One in four young people aged 16 to 24 live with a mental disorder*

These young people are facing many obstacles that are stopping them from breaking free and leading meaningful lives. Many young people in this situation simply do not know who to turn to for help.

Every year, around 50,000 young Australians leave school early and do not go into full-time work, full-time learning or a combination of work and study****. These young people may never acquire the ‘work habit’ and risk slipping into long-term unemployment.

Even obtaining the right documents to enrol in training (e.g. a birth certificate) can seem an overwhelming challenge. For disadvantaged adolescents facing such obstacles, life can go wrong with frightening speed.

* Muir et al. (2009) State of Australia’s Young People: A Report. Australian Government.
** Chamberlain, C and MacKenzie, D (2008) Counting the Homeless 2006.
*** ABS (2009) Labour Force, November 2009.
**** Dusseldorp Skills Forum and Australian Industry Group (2007).

You can help kids give kids brighter future

With your help we can work closely with troubled young people to provide them with guidance and motivation to access education, training and jobs. Mission Australia offers support in three ways:

CASEWORK: One-on-one assistance in areas such as accommodation, family mediation, health and lifestyle advice, training and employment. More...

COUNSELLING: Our counsellors give young people a chance to get to the root causes behind their behaviour and develop coping mechanisms to deal with anger and conflict. More...

EDUCATION: We act as the critical link to get adolescents back into study or training. More...

Thousands of disadvantaged Australians are at risk of dropping out of school, becoming homeless or stuck in the drug spiral. Many have little hope of ever getting a full-time job. If we reach them now, will have a chance. Please help us before it’s too late.