FAQs

Over the last five years our Youth Programs team has focussed on building regular and ongoing year round programs for young people through our LAUNCH activities and events program including:

• LAUNCH Skate – annual calendar of events including fortnightly skate nights and skill building activities, with a focus on increasing diversity and safety in our skate parks
• LAUNCH Night Series – regular Saturday night recreation program including sports comp, life skills workshops, a meal and transport
• LAUNCH Media – young people covering local events on social media and building their profile as positive community influencers and role models
• LAUNCH emerging producer / all ages events – supporting young people to deliver events including the popular Sounds@Sunset series
• Get That Job – regular school holiday workshops to improve employability including white cards, first aid, barista basics, resume writing and more.

Alongside our regular activity and events program the team also regularly supports a range of community development initiatives including:

• Convening monthly meetings of Council’s Youth Advisory Committee
• Providing secretariat support for the Darwin Working With Youth Network (DARWWYN) which includes facilitating monthly meetings and circulation of a weekly newsletter
• Producing an array of Youth Week events including skate comps, art and craft workshops, cooking competitions, movie nights and collaborating with Anglicare to deliver the much-loved Couch Surfing event, raising awareness for youth homelessness
• Promotion of activities and events for young people via LAUNCH Darwin’s social media channels (Instagram and Facebook).

Every council is different, but local government typically provides services for young people in recreation and capacity building. Most local government authorities don’t provide services that are generally the responsibility of other tiers of government such as education, housing and health. Over the period of the current strategy (2016-2021) our Youth Programs team has prioritised programming designed to:

• Celebrate and profile young Darwin
• Encourage young people to be active community participants
• Build the capacity of young people to shape their own lives and the community around them.

Based on 2016 ABS results, Darwin has 12,076 12–24 year olds which is 16% of the total population of Darwin at 82,886 people.

• 24% of 12 to 24 year olds who live in Darwin were born overseas
• 26% of 12 to 24 year olds speak a language other than English at home, the most common languages being Filipino/Tagalog and Greek
• Between 2011 and 2016 there was a significant increase in the number of people completing senior schooling in Darwin
• At 33%, the proportion of 17 to 24 with a vocational or tertiary qualification is almost on par with the Australian average
• 85 to 91% of 18 to 24 year olds are employed either full or part time which is 5% higher than the Australian average
• 450 young people aged 15 to 24 years provide unpaid care
• Twice as many 12 to 17 year olds live in social housing and 40% more of their peers live in rental housing when compared to the rest of Australia
• 80 to 85% of 12 to 24 year olds live in a household with internet, this is only a few percentage points less than the Australian average.

City of Darwin defines young people as being between the ages of 12 and 25. This is in line with national and Territory definitions.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare this age span includes all three of the main stages of adolescence - early, middle and late. www.aihw.gov.au

The Youth Strategy has three key objectives:

• Create a flexible, outcomes-focused youth strategy to be referred to and drawn upon by Council, and other relevant community stakeholders.
• Alignment with City of Darwin’s 2030 Strategic Plan – City for People. City of Colour.
• Define how Council will measure outcomes and demonstrate the success of the work undertaken with young people over the life span of the strategy.

The consultation process runs from 15 March to 4 April 2021.

Opportunities to contribute include:

• An online survey for young people (12-25)
• An online survey for adults (parents, teachers, support workers etc.)
• Written submissions will be accepted via this Engage Page
• Instagram and Facebook polls @launchdarwin
• Pop up stall at Casuarina Square 
• Two sector consultation workshops being held on 23 and 25 March 2021
• One-on-one interviews with key stakeholders.