Across one and a half days, the Victorian Youth Homelessness Assembly will facilitate a unique conversation that evolves through panels and then collaborative workshops to create a roadmap for change. And every voice will play an important part.
Learn from and collaborate with frontline workers, sector leaders and young lived experience experts as we co-develop a brighter future.
Day One
Tuesday, 29 April
12-1pm: Registrations and Light lunch
Grab a casual lunch & network on arrival.
1-1.30pm: Official Welcomes & Introduction
1.30-2.30pm: Opening Plenary Panel
“Learning from lived experience”
Young lived experience experts discuss what helped on their journeys and what obstructed them. What’s their ideal for a youth homelessness response?
Panel Members:
Arlo – Lived Experience Engagement and Participation team, Melbourne City Mission
Imogen – Peer Support Worker, Melbourne City Mission
Roy – Lived Experience Engagement and Participation team, Melbourne City Mission
Ryn – Lived Experience Engagement and Participation team, Melbourne City Mission
Sakshi Puri – Youth Development Worker, Launch Housing
Brea Dorsett – Human Rights Advocate (facilitator)
2.40-3.30pm: Breakout Panels
Breakout 1 – Prioritising prevention: turning off the tap (Main Room)
Innovations, challenges and priorities in the mission to end youth homelessness before it begins.
Panel Members:
Mitch Burney – General Manager, Youth and Housing Supports, Quantum Support Services
Jaime de Loma-Osorio Ricon – Deputy CEO, Banksia Gardens Community Services
David MacKenzie – CEO, Upstream Australia
Stephen Nash – CEO, Kids Under Cover
Belinda Tominc – Clinical Nurse Consultant – Youth Health, Young People’s Health Service
Heidi Tucker – CEO, Anchor Community Care (facilitator)
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Breakout 2 – Ending Aboriginal youth homelessness (Room 2)
Aboriginal Victorians are over-represented among young people experiencing homelessness. How do we most effectively embed self-determination in a strategy to end youth homelessness and be informed by the needs and voices of the Aboriginal community?
Panel Members:
Karen Anderson – Acting Manager Homelessness Entry Point, Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative Limited
Tim Cronin – Manager, Aboriginal Homelessness Reform, Aboriginal Housing Victoria
Deborah Di Natale – CEO of CHP and member of the Blueprint Steering Committee (Facilitator)
Georgina Pilkington – Initial Assessment and Planning Worker, Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative Limited
Imogen – Peer Support Worker, Melbourne City Mission
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Breakout 3 – Crisis accommodation (Room 3)
What does best practice crisis accommodation look like, to ensure young people have a safe haven when they most urgently need it?
Panel Members:
Donna Bennett – CEO, Hope Street (facilitator)
Claire Edmanson – Regional Manager of Upton Road Refuge, Salvation Army
Maidie Graham – Senior Manager, Homelessness Services – Intake and Prevention, Uniting Vic Tas
Ryan Hedley – Nungurra Manager, Gippsland & East Gippsland Aboriginal Co-Operative Ltd
3.30-4pm: Afternoon tea
4-4.50pm: Breakout Panels
Breakout 4 – Youth: the overlooked face of family violence (Main Room)
The Royal Commission into Family Violence found young people are often overlooked as “silent victims” of family violence. How do we create more response pathways for young people escaping violence.
Panel Members:
Christine Abson – Senor Manager – Recovery and Response, Family Violence Services, wayss
Jo Baillon – Manager, Housing – Meli
Deborah Di Natale – CEO, Council to Homeless Persons (facilitator)
Alice McDonald – Amplify team, MCM
Marcus Tawfik – Family Violence Senior Manager Practice and Development, The Salvation Army
Elle Te Waka – Lived Experience Advocate, Bridgeit
Chelsea Tobin – CEO, Safe Steps
This panel is proudly supported by Meli.
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Breakout 5 – Health impacts and holistic care (Room 2)
Exploring the physical and mental health impacts of youth homelessness, and how we can provide personalised and integrated responses to ensure the best outcomes for young Victorians without a home.
Panel Members:
Douschka Dobson – Senior Policy & Advocacy Officer, Melbourne City Mission
Imogen – Peer Support Worker, Melbourne City Mission
Sue Scott – Operations Manager, Hope Street (Facilitator)
Nikita Stokker – Practice Lead, Youth Outreach at Youth Projects
Belinda Tominc – Clinical Nurse Consultant – Youth Health, Young People’s Health Service
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Breakout 6 – Foundations to thrive: supported housing models & pathways to independence (Room 3)
Integrating housing with support, and other programs to provide educational opportunities, development of life skills and employment pathways so young people can transition to adulthood with confidence and financial independence.
Panel Members:
James Aloni – State Manager Victoria, The Salvation Army
Sam Barrett – Head of Social Innovation Programs, Melbourne City Mission
Rebecca Lee – Service Manager Youth Foyer Development, Launch Housing
Simon Okley – Head of Impact, For Change Co.
Carla Raynes – CEO, BridgeIt (facilitator)
5pm: Official Social Reception
“Through My Eyes” is an exhibition of art by young people with lived experience of homelessness, and it will be the centrepiece of the Assembly’s Social Reception.
Day Two
Wednesday, 30 April
9-9.15am: Welcome to Day 2
9.30-11am: Breakout Workshops
This morning the baton passes to Assembly participants, as you choose workshops of interest to discuss what success looks like in a range of areas, and the program priorities to get us there…
Workshop 1: Prevention and early intervention (Main Room)
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Workshop 2: Health and holistic care (Room 2)
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Workshop 3: Supported housing models (Room 3)
11-11.30am: Morning tea
11.30am – 1pm: Breakout Workshops
Another round of workshops focussing on reforms in specific priority areas.
Workshop 4: Family violence and youth homelessness (Main Room)
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Workshop 5: Crisis accommodation (Room 2)
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Workshop 6: Transition programs & pathways to independence (Room 3)
1-2pm: Lunch
2-2.50pm: Workshop report back
We reconvene as one Assembly as our Senior Workshop Facilitator, Sarah McDowell – Allen and Clarke, recaps the main discussions from the morning’s workshops.
2.50-3.10pm: Afternoon Tea
3.10-4pm: Closing Plenary Panel
“Putting ideas into action”
Join representatives of the Ministerial Homelessness Reform Advisory Group – the homelessness sector’s forum to collaborate with the Government on system reform – as they reflect on highlights of the morning’s workshops and key elements of a Victorian Youth Homelessness Strategy identified through the discussions.
Panel Members:
Deborah Di Natale – CEO, Council to Homeless Persons
Moana Ferris – Women’s Supportive Housing Case Manager, Supportive Housing Program, Sacred Heart Mission
Wayne Merrett – CEO, wayss
Stephen Nash – CEO, Kids Under Cover
De-Joel Upkett – CEO, Ngwala Willumbong Aboriginal Corporation
4-4.15pm: Conference closing address
The next steps are to distil the Assembly’s discussions into a statement of reform and funding priorities, addressed by Deborah Di Natale – Council to Homeless Persons.