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It’s Crunch Time

A significant number of young people lack basic educational attainments and levels of engagement to adequately cope with the demands being made of them.

Raising youth engagement and attainment, a discussion paper.

A unique conjunction of factors – strong economic conditions and growth into the foreseeable future, Australia’s continuing need for a skilled workforce, and the forecast demographic squeeze facing the nation – tell us it is now crunch time to really deliver and to open the doors to greater youth engagement in learning, in the economy and in the society.

In the last year important progress has been made in terms of reducing the numbers of young people not fully engaged in learning or work.

But as this paper notes, a significant number of young people lack basic educational attainments and levels of engagement to adequately cope with the demands being made of them either in the workplace or in the wider society.

Achieving higher levels of youth engagement and skill attainment are worthy goals in their own terms. But they are vital if Australia is to successfully cope with a demographic squeeze resulting from ‘baby boomers’ embracing retirement; the need to increase the rate of participation in the workforce; and to raise productivity levels to points where they match or exceed our competitors.

Because of Australia’s sustained economic achievements over more than a decade the country has a unique opportunity to invest in young people and cement institutional arrangements to ensure that even more young people are engaged, skilled and developed over the long-term.

The Australian Industry Group and the Dusseldorp Skills Forum are releasing this discussion paper to stimulate debate and ideas on how young Australians can be better skilled and engaged.

We hope the paper elicits vigorous public discussion and makes a contribution to the contest of ideas and thinking about education and training now taking place in Australia, especially in the context of a forthcoming federal election. For our political leaders, and more importantly for Australia as a whole, an integrated rather than piecemeal approach to policy will yield dividends – for young people, their parents, educators, communities, industry and governments.

While we are confident in the value of the proposals being tabled, we are equally conscious that they will benefit from fresh eyes and broader debate. We commend the paper to you and welcome your thoughts and comments.

Crunch Time (1.29 MB)

August 2007

Authors:

  • Australian Industry Group
  • Dusseldorp Skills Forum
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Mannifera

Dusseldorp Forum are proud to be a part of Mannifera, a collective of Australian funders working together to support a fairer democracy and economy for everyone. Since its inception in 2019, Mannifera have invested over $4.3 million in civil society organisations that actively collaborate and advocate for structural change.

In recent years, many organisations Mannifera supports have contributed to legislation and the progress of issues such as lifting the Jobseeker rate, stage three tax cut reforms, advocating for the right to peaceful protest, and developing an MP Code of Conduct.

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In 2024, Mannifera invested in 16 civil society advocacy organisations across four key focus areas. The first is to improve the quality of public debate. The Australian Democracy Network, Reset Australia, the Human Rights Law Centre, and the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom are among the eight organisations they support collectively working to combat misinformation, protect legitimate reporting, and ensure a fairer, open, and accountable democracy.

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Read the Mannifera 2025 Grant Impact Report for more information.

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Narrative Practice: Strong Stories and Connections

Dusseldorp Forum partnered with the Dulwich Centre to deliver the Narrative Practice Project, a series of travelling workshops across Mt Druitt, Bourke, and Kempsey. These workshops equipped community leaders with Narrative Practice skills, supporting communities to tell their own stories of change.

Narrative practice is an approach that supports people and communities tell their own stories in a way that highlights their strengths, values, and knowledge. It focuses on listening deeply, asking meaningful questions, and recognising the skills and wisdom people use to overcome challenges, so their experiences shape solutions and change.

Through these workshops, communities developed new engagement techniques, improved practices in youth and family support systems, and deepened relationships across regions.

Participants received Level 1 accreditation in Narrative Therapy, and ongoing coaching ensured they could apply these practices in their work.

Narrative Practice in Action

These two-day workshops led to meaningful changes across the communities:

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Beyond the skills learned, these workshops deepened connections between communities, individuals, and Country. Participants travelled together, shared meals cooked by locals, and visited significant cultural sites like the Brewarrina Fish Traps and the Dunghutti coastline.

They also participated in cultural activities, including Bourke’s cultural dance night and the 100th anniversary commemoration of Kinchela Boys Home.

Through this experience:

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Collectives: Amplifying Impact

Forming alliances, partnerships and joint initiatives has been the approach of Dusseldorp Forum since inception; making an impact that reaches beyond the sum of our parts.

Creating a more just and equitable society requires more than one program, organisation, or initiative. There is great value in connecting diverse individuals and organisations across sectors to foster collaborative relationships and collective actions which generate more coordinated strategic effort towards structural reform.

That’s why we have joined Mannifera Collective, Groundswell Giving, and the Investment Dialogue for Australia’s Children (IDAC). These partnerships demonstrate transformative power of working together.

Pooling resources allows us to increase funding scale and provide long-term support for critical issues. Sharing knowledge strengthens decision-making and fosters innovation. Risk-sharing enables us to tackle complex or underfunded challenges, and collaboration builds trust, accountability, and influence – ensuring better education, health, cultural and environmental outcomes.

Mannifera Collective: Strengthening Democracy​

Mannifera is a collective of funders committed to a healthy democracy and a fairer economy. Since 2019, the collective has backed civil society organisations to drive policy change and public advocacy investing over $4.3 million.

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Investment Dialogue for Australia’s Children: Aligning Efforts for Impact​

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PLACE: A Milestone for Place-Based Collaboration​

“PLACE will help make the invisible, visible. It will enable us to share our successes and accelerate shared learning. It is a genuine opportunity to invest in future generations with the support and resources to enable the true ambitions and aspirations of our communities.” 


Alister Ferguson, Founder, Maranguka, Bourke NSW

For over a decade, communities across Australia have been leading place-based approaches to tackle challenges in education, health, justice, and housing. By working in genuine partnership, these initiatives have driven lasting change.

Dusseldorp Forum has been deeply involved in five place-based initiatives that have sparked new ways of working. Maranguka’s success influenced state and federal Justice Reinvestment policy, Logan Together helped shape the Stronger Places, Stronger People (SPSP) policy, and Our Place’s school-based model was adopted by the Victorian Education Department.
Yet despite their clear impact, place-based efforts struggle to access the coordinated support required to embed the positive changes they demonstrate. 2024 marked a turning point with the establishment of PLACE – Partnerships for Local Action and Communities Empowerment, a national centre designed to strengthen place-based collaboration.

A National Shift Toward Place-Based Policy
A National Shift Toward Place-Based Policy

Announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth on 30 October 2024, PLACE represents a fundamental shift in how government, philanthropy, and communities work together.

“Place-based support has and can have a profound impact, and now more Australian communities will benefit from these initiatives.”
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Robinvale College, one of their sites in northwest Victoria, also achieved progress. New family engagement approaches, including craft sessions, and a school attendance action plan were introduced. Initiatives like The Language Cafe, funded by the Department of Job, Skills, Industries, and Regions (DJSIR), connected adults with services like employment, driver licenses, and working with children checks. Negotiations are underway to introduce local health services like speech pathology and occupational therapy to the school.

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Mounty Aboriginal Youth and Community Service (MAYCS) Mt Druitt

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Karrkad Kanjdji Trust (KKT)

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KKT

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Last year, this included a $40,000 grant to the Australian Associated Press (AAP), which enabled the newswire to establish its specialist climate desk to cover climate issues and help combat climate misinformation; an $80,000 grant to Rewiring Australia, which secured $5.4 million in federal funding to launch Electrify 2515, a world-first pilot program for home electrification; and a $40,000 grant to Lock the Gate, whose campaigning helped to shut down two proposed coal mines in NSW.

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Australian Progress

Australian Progress are helping to build the advocacy capacity of Australia’s civil society organisations to ensure that community interests shape our nation’s priorities. Working with thousands of social change organisations and changemakers, they transform the skills of community leaders and play a pivotal role in convening the sector to foster knowledge sharing, collaboration and driving forward shared action.

In 2024, Australian Progress grew the skills and networks of over 880 advocates and campaigners through a range of thought-provoking webinars, multi-day training workshops, and their flagship program, the Progress Fellowship. They also brought together over 500 changemakers at two major events — Common Threads, a summit for and by First Nations people to connect, yarn, share, strategise, and plan for action, and FWD+Organise 2024, a coming together of digital campaigners and community organisers to collaborate, innovate, and share skills and ideas.

Australian Progress

Last year, Australian Progress and its partners and community showcased the power of scaled action and collaboration in making real change possible. Through the support of the Economic Media Centre, which connects journalists with economic spokespeople, 336 stories from community leaders and advocates were shared in the media and generated over 5,400 syndications. Developed in partnership with Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA) and Common Cause Australia, Australian Progress also released the By Us, For Us disability messaging guide, a pioneering intensive research project aiming to reshape public narratives about disability and drive support for transformative policy change.

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Surfers for Climate

Surfers for Climate (SFC) are an Australian charity that empowers and mobilises surfers and associated communities to pursue positive climate action. It does this by supporting surfers in campaigning against new coastal and offshore fossil fuel developments, helping surfers implement climate solutions into their everyday lives, and respectfully engaging MPs in surfing communities to act on climate change. 

One of SFC’s biggest wins in 2024 was the introduction of historic legislation to ban offshore sea mining and infrastructure for oil and gas projects in New South Wales coastal waters with bi-partisan support. SFC’s campaigning helped NSW become the first state to adopt the much-needed Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Seabed Mining and Exploration) Bill 2024.

surfers for climate

Other SFC highlights in 2024 include the scaling up of the Trade Up program, which helps surf-loving tradespeople promote climate-positive behaviours at work, the launch of the inaugural Water Women Campout, an annual wellbeing weekend for women, alongside Blue Minds, a mental health program to address eco-anxiety amongst youth and empower them to act.

In 2024, SFC expanded its audience and the reach of its positive climate action message by hosting 26 community events, meeting with over 100 politicians and decision-makers, increasing its Australian media presence, and growing its collective social media follower base to over 50,000.

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