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Youth outreach service a stepping stone

19 February 2025
Community Perth
Health and wellbeing
Woman and child embracing

The Nyoongar Outreach Service (NOS), based in Boorloo (Perth) and Walyalup (Fremantle), is a community-led initiative for First Nations youth. Staff at the service work to increase young people’s positive engagement with the community through recreation, education and employment.

Warning: Suicide is mentioned in this video. If you or someone you know needs help you can contact Lifeline on 131114.

For mum Jocelyn Dodd, the service has been life changing.

“It has changed my children,” Jocelyn said.

“We’ve been using the service for a while now and it has supported them with education, getting them into programs. 

It’s about moving forward.

Her extended family, including 7 young people, accepted wrap around services from NOS, which meant that a First Nations Youth Engagement Officer successfully supported the family and connected them with other organisations.

NOS CEO Maria McAtackney explained that the program responds to concerns about behaviour in the CBD at night, but is much more than a night patrol.

Not just working with them out on the streets, but making the home visits and making sure that we connect young people to education, recreational activities, engage them with any mental health issues, suicidal issues that they have, incarceration. 

'The whole service covers the whole aspect of young people at risk in public spaces,' Maria said.

Nyoongar Outreach Service is a community-based program which employs local First Nations people who drive community-led and culturally responsive solutions. It’s funded by the Commonwealth as an important Closing the Gap initiative.

That means the service can be responsive and flexible to a family’s needs.

“One of the advantages, we are not going to put barriers for young people, if we need to change a program, we change it. If the needs change, we change,” Maria said.

We give everybody the opportunity. We call Nyoongar Outreach a stepping stone.

 

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