About the Annual YOGIE Awards
The Annual YOGIE Awards (the YOGIES) recognise, celebrate, promote and reward outstanding practice in working with young people in the ACT and surrounding area. The YOGIES highlight the exceptional commitment, talent and innovation that exist in the youth sector.
The YOGIES are presented annually by the ACT Minister for Children and Young People. Awards are presented in 10 categories that recognise the work of groups and individuals, with young people, workers, individuals, programs and services invited to provide nominations. A judging panel determines the winners, with the exclusion of the Staff Acknowledgement Award. The judging panel is comprised of a representative from the Youth Coalition, a representative from the Office for Children, Youth and Family Support, Community Services Directorate; and a representative from the community youth sector. The winner of the Staff Acknowledgement Award is identified by the Youth Coalition staff team.
The YOGIES are an opportunity for youth and allied services to promote their initiatives, programs and workers to the sector and the community as a whole.
Click here to view the complete winners booklet for the 2011 YOGIE Awards (winners are also outlined below).
2011 YOGIE Award Winners
Organisation, Service, Program or Project Awards
Outstanding Achievement in Youth Participation Award
This award recognises an organisation, service, program or project that has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to developing meaningful partnerships with young people.
Winner: Youth Music Events: Woden Youth Centre, Woden Community Services
Woden Youth Centre music events commenced in 1989 and have continued to develop and grow over 12 years. The objective of the music events is to ensure young people are involved in all aspects of the events to have true ownership of them, and to provide bands and young musicians supported opportunities to enhance and further develop their abilities to coordinate events and to raise their own and other's bands profiles.
Innovation in Practice Award
This award recognises an organisation, service, program or project that has demonstrated exceptional ‘thinking outside the square’ to create beneficial change for young people.
Winner: Suburban Challenge, Environmental and Sustainable Development Directorate
The Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate's (ESDD) interactive schools program, initiated through Mark Metters, promotes youth initiative and environmental education while introducing concepts of sustainable suburban planning over six weeks, meeting once a week (double lesson).
The 'How to build a sustainable suburb' program educates upper primary and secondary students on how sustainable suburbs are planned and built and how suburbs can change to reflect different challenges, including climate change. It is a hands on, practical approach to sustainable development that raises students awareness of how planning is based around the environment.
Collaboration for Change
This award recognises an organisation, service, program or project that has demonstrated an outstanding collaboration or partnership in their community as a means to achieving positive outcomes for young people.
Winner: Our Place - Youth Integrated Accommodation and Education Program
Our Place is a collaborative project between Barnardos, Anglicare, DHCS and Rotary. Based on the Foyer model developed in the UK, Our Place is an innovative project providing a high standard of affordable accommodation to young homeless people in the ACT who are engaged in education, training and/or training related employment.
The project has operated from a collaborative perspective since its inception and is one of the few community based projects being delivered by a staff team made up from different agencies, in this case Barnardos and Anglicare. The collaborative perspective is mirrored in all areas of the project, from the shared living arrangements the young people are accommodated in, the group activities they participate in and weekly dinners where the diverse cultural mix of the residents is reflected in the meals that are prepared.
Excellence in Research and Evaluation Award
This award recognises an organisation, service, program or project that has conducted research and / or evaluation for the advancement of knowledge in youth affairs and / or the improvement of practice with young people.
Winner: Younger Mums' Project, Australian Breastfeeding Association
In 2011 a group of Australian Breastfeeding Association volunteers completed a research project looking into the information and support younger mothers need to initiate and continue with breastfeeding. The methodology included a literature review, three focus groups with young mothers in Canberra, and discussions with relevant workers with the aim of the project being to improve younger pregnant and parenting women’s access to appropriate breastfeeding information and support services.
The insights and experiences of the younger mothers involved in the project provided a lot of information that will assist in advocating for adequate provision of breastfeeding support and information to the group. This will support an increase in the rates of younger mothers breastfeeding and improve their experiences of it.
Excellence in Organisational Practice Award
This award recognises an organisation, service, or program that has demonstrated excellence in organisational development as a means to achieving positive outcomes with young people.
Winner: CatholicCare Canberra and Goulburn
CatholicCare currently services over 50 contracts, including many specific services for young people. These programs include Mental Health programs like STEPS and Youth and Wellbeing; Counselling services through FACES and a Student and Parent counseling service; Alcohol and Other Drug Programs, Grogwatch; Youth Homelessness support services, Homelinx and Reconnect; Youth Connections, an Education, Training and Work program; and, the CatholicCare Migration Service, supporting new arrivals.
CatholicCare recognises the need and desire for ongoing development for their staff in order to improve service delivery, skills and sense of achievement for staff and to retain highly skilled workers in the community sector. CatholicCare supports ongoing learning in a number of ways.
These include Professional Development planning, the provision of high quality supervision for staff, In-house training including training in working with young people who have co-morbid support needs, providing Study Leave for staff on a pro-rata basis along with ‘no interest’ loans for staff engaged in tertiary studies and CatholicCare employ staff without qualifications on traineeships to enable them to gain on the job skills, experience and study at the same time. This initiative has included the recruitment of people with personal experience in a variety of backgrounds to value add to their roles.
Individual Awards
Outstanding Youth Worker Award
This award recognises an individual youth worker who has advanced the rights and wellbeing of young people by advocating for systemic change, supporting young people to access full membership of society and to be decision-makers in their own lives.
Winners: Merin Ahern
Merin currently works at U-Turn Youth Services, Belconnen Community Services (BCS), as a Youth Connections Outreach Worker. Merin’s role is to support disengaged or disengaging young people to re-engage in education, training or employment. This is undertaken through individual case management and facilitation of group activities; Merin facilitates a number of self-esteem and personal development courses within BCS and Belconnen Schools. Merin actively promotes opportunities available to young people in the Belconnen Youth Centre, including Road Ready and business courses; she also facilitates many social opportunities and holiday programs with the youth centre.
She has been described as an outstanding young person, with a passion about working in the youth sector. She has the ability to address a student’s social emotional and intellectual needs and maintains connections with young people after they exit short-term programs and courses; this continuing connection supports young people to remain more connected with a pathway than they would have otherwise.
Outstanding New Talent Award
This award recognises an individual youth worker, youth work trainee or volunteer that has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to improving the wellbeing of young people.
Winner: Margy Duke
Margy was employed in the Parenting Outreach Program at Barnardos in March 2011, to set up and run a supported playgroup for young Aboriginal mothers, ‘Koori Playgroup’, in addition to providing outreach support to young homeless families in the community. Margy is a part time worker for Barnardos, wife and full time mother of 5 children. Margy is a proud Dhungutti woman and a well-known talented Aboriginal Abstract artist both here and internationally.
The group Margy facilitates is of huge benefit to participants, they have developed strong support networks and are embracing the opportunities provided through the group. The children are thriving being in an environment that is set up to cater for their learning needs, and parents are encouraged and taught to stimulate and play with their children during the sessions. The group is made up of young mums, some as young as 18 years, most with Care and Protection orders on their children, some children in long term care or having episodic removal of children, some working on children being successfully restored to their care, all struggling to develop the skills and supports to parent, maintain housing and live successfully.
Outstanding Contribution to Young People Award
This award recognises an outstanding individual who works to improve the wellbeing of young people in the ACT.
Winner: Lorne Lenz
Lorne has worked within Oasis Youth Residential Service’s crisis accommodation refuge for over 5 years. His role is to provide case management, support, advocacy, and emotional and transitional support to the young people accessing the service. Lorne consistently works to improve and maintain the various supports that himself and Oasis provide and strives to obtain the best possible results.
Lorne builds excellent rapport with clients and his focus is always on clients getting the support they need to transition to independence, and is also able to make sure the refuge has a ‘homely’ feel to it while simultaneously ensuring safety protocols are kept. He is able to identify the strengths in young people and helps them work towards seeing this also. Lorne is effective in his work due to his respect for others, his open mind and ability to look at situations from a client’s perspective. Clients that have left the service often return or call to speak to Lorne as they are comfortable with him and he always makes time for them.
Lifetime Achievement Award
This award recognises an outstanding individual who has consistently demonstrated a commitment to supporting and improving the wellbeing of young people in the ACT.
Winner: Sharon D'Elboux
Sharon has helped set up 'Our Place' in its first year, along with taking on the role to match mentors to the 'mentees' who live in the accommodation services. This is a different field for Sharon who has been mainly working with young people in an outreach capacity. Her years of experience with the young people of Canberra, makes her well placed to provide support and guidance to the enthusiastic mentors.
Sharon has worked in the Transition Program for fifteen years (minus a couple of years to have two children) and during this time she has proved herself to be a caring, effective, nurturing, patient, professional, resilient and humorous youth worker. Over the years Sharon’s unflagging enthusiasm and unqualified acceptance of young people has allowed her to make a real impact on their lives. Sharon has the unique ability to engage, direct, cajole, advise, advocate, empathise, listen, counsel and empower young people whilst appearing to be just a friendly person who wants to have a catch up. To have someone so experienced to help young people with incredibly challenging and complex issues can only benefit the homeless young people of the ACT.
Staff Acknowledgement Award
This award is selected by the Youth Coalition staff team, and acknowledges an individual who has significantly contributed to young people in the ACT, the youth sector, and the work of the Youth Coalition of the ACT.
Winner: Kate Cvetanovski
Kate is Senior Manager of the Youth, Family and Housing Services at Northside community Service, and has held this position for over two years. Along with providing leadership to her teams, she has developed innovative programs and partnerships, and continues to advocate for better outcomes for young people.
Kate has a deep understanding of assertive outreach approaches to youth work, and works effectively within this approach to engage, empower and support ‘hard to reach’ young people. Some of Kate’s successes in work and leadership include the development of many programs for young people in partnership with other organisations, such as, the winner of 2010’s Yogie Award for Innovation in Practice, the Steer program.
Kate is generous with her time and skills in participating in forums and learning opportunities with colleagues from other agencies, including sector development work such as practice frameworks and outcome measures. She has also driven partnerships that Northside Community Service are now engaged in including with the AFP, Corrective Services, Centrelink, ACT Housing, local schools, training bodies and many community organisations.
Kate has also been instrumental in supporting the development of collaboration opportunities between the Youth Coalition and Families ACT, the peak body for family support services in the ACT. The Youth Coalition staff team would like to acknowledge and thank Kate for her time, energy and work towards collaborative practice, engagement of vulnerable young people and a sincere commitment to achieving the best outcomes for young people in the ACT.
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