ABSTRACT
What is youth work in Australia? At first glance this question appears to be relatively straightforward. Yet, asking a basic question such as that and providing answers to such apparently simple questions is not straightforward. In this case, as with so many other aspects of the social and community services sector, there is complexity everywhere, evident, for example, if we survey the kinds of community-based, non-government organizations (NGOs) where youth workers are employed. There are tens of thousands of agencies across Australia where youth workers are employed. They offer a large array of services that include: child welfare and child protection, employment services, housing services, youth justice, supported accommodation for people with a disability, legal services, education, probation services, health services (including drug and alcohol), individual and family relationship counseling, and community activities, information and referral services. Added to this we should note that the NGOs offering these services are shadowed by services provided by statutory agencies managed and funded by national, state and local governments. There is also a smaller burgeoning quasi-private sector offering youth services of various kinds. While there is a case for distinguishing between statutory agencies and NGOs, Australian governments at all levels have moved over the last three decades to formalize partnerships with NGOs. The result is that many NGOs have become front-line government agencies fully funded by, and accountable to governments. Finally, in many cases state-run agencies, like the NGOs, employ paid and fully qualified youth workers as well as volunteer and/ or untrained youth workers.
