ABOUT THIS REPORT:…
Youturn Limited is a not-for-profit charity established in 1989 and today makes a difference across the sectors of Child Safety, Homelessness, Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.
This Annual Report provides our community and partners with a transparent overview of our activities during the 2021 – 2022 financial year, including our goals, key achievements, our financial performance and future focus.
The theme for this report is “Path to Purpose”. This last year we have cemented our Youturn brand and clearly mapped out a path and purpose to improving the health, wellbeing and productivity of vulnerable people. We continue to build momentum and have found a like-minded community with partners and supporters joining us on the journey, as we work towards achieving our goals set out in our Strategic Plan.
We acknowledge the traditional Custodians of the lands on which we operate and pay our respects to their elders, past, present and emerging.
Our organisation is a place where human rights are respected and people of diverse genders and sexual orientations are welcome and supported.
If you would like to follow our journey, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on our social media channels.
The theme for this year’s report, Path to Purpose, reflects the focused and targeted efforts undertaken during FY22, across our organisation, as we strive to make a difference in all we do. Our 2020-2025 Strategic Plan formed the strong foundation and guided our path this year as we committed to making intentional and meaningful decisions to increase not only our reach but also the impact we have as a charity.
This year we partnered with purpose to help fulfil our goal to provide innovative and community-led projects including our Tiny Houses, Fishin' Mates, Self-Defence and many others. These projects, as well as community events and activities raising awareness and advocacy for key social issues, were made possible through the support of a range individuals, businesses and organisations (including local government) who share our passion for change.
This report is a true celebration of the key steps on our path to creating safe, inclusive and supportive communities. We share this journey and our success with our amazing talented team, including our dedicated Board, as well as all those in our community who reached out to offer their support.
We walk alongside many on our path to purpose and we are truly thankful for those who have journeyed with us this year, to ensure that vulnerable people continue to receive support when they need it most.
It is with great pleasure that we share with our community the Youturn Annual Report for 2021-2022. This marks the third year of operating within a remarkably challenging environment, one which has been forever changed by the impacts of COVID, workforce constraints, as well as flooding events throughout the year.
Despite the complexities, this report outlines the significant impact we have made as the community need, particularly for housing and mental health support, was greater than ever before. The dedicated Youturn team have worked tirelessly this past year to ensure that our services remained accessible and safe for the 9000 individuals we supported.
Our front-line staff are the heart of our organisation and we thank them for their ongoing commitment and dedication to supporting the children, young people and families who turn to us for much needed Child Safety, Homelessness, Mental Health and Suicide Prevention services.
We are very proud of our heritage and the support we have provided to our local communities.
The story of our humble beginnings is a rich and interesting one. It celebrates community spirit and how an unassuming grass roots approach was the answer to a need in our local, coastal community on the Sunshine Coast.
Our origins date back to 1989 when assistance to six young people, who were experiencing homelessness, was provided by five volunteers who established the Noosa Accommodation Project (NAP). With dedicated and determined campaigners and the help of the local community, NAP evolved to provide supported accommodation to young people aged 16-21 years.
Over the years, our organisation has grown and continued to evolve to meet the needs of vulnerable people in our community. Our services expanded to other regions and branched and diversified into new focus areas including Child Safety, Homelessness, Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.
To view our timeline, please click and drag on the timeline below to move through the years!
It is in times of intense crisis or emotional distress, that most young and vulnerable people reach out to us, seeking our understanding and compassion. Our staff provide non-judgmental, individualised support to those in need, ensuring we are delivering on our Mission, Vision and Values.
The majority of services Youturn delivers, are across South East Queensland from 15 work locations. The exception is our StandBy Support After Suicide program, which provides support in every state and territory in Australia.
Commitment to self-fund the build of two duplexes in Toowoomba for people experiencing homelessness; and
Developing a culture of innovation which supported the team to partner in multiple projects including a mixed reality room research project for people struggling with their mental health.
Leading a philanthropic culture which resulted in Youturn purchasing two Tiny Homes for people experiencing homelessness;
Youturn has a skills-based Board of Directors who provide guidance, knowledge and expertise to our CEO and the Executive Team.
Good governance at Youturn is achieved by ensuring daily operations contribute to the strategic direction. The Board ensures that regulatory and social responsibilities as a charity and company limited by guarantee are met.
This year three new Directors were recruited to the Board, including Scott Orpin, Georgia O’Keeffe and Aaron Minton who all bring a wealth of knowledge and experience from various sectors of industry.
We acknowledge and thank our Board for gifting their time and talent to Youturn.
Our Executive Team is led by our Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Tanya Bell, who was appointed to the role in October 2021.
Youturn’s team of executives bring a wealth of experience and extensive skills in each of their respective fields and are also incredibly passionate about the services and support they oversee.
This year, Amanda Glenwright took on the newly created role of General Manager, Development and Impact and has brought with her extensive experience in health and social care.
To show our people that we value them, we introduced Birthday Leave, which gifts one additional day of leave for every person in our team.
As an Employer, Youturn participated in reporting to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) to contribute to a national dataset and improve issues affecting workplace gender equality in Australia.
Along with Youturn’s Wellness Partner/Employee Assistance Program Benestar, in March 2022 Youturn launched a partnership with WHEREFIT© to provide a range of fitness and wellbeing benefits to our workforce.
Embedding our safe working culture further, Youturn has progressed to a self-managed phase of Prevention and Management (IPaM) by WorkSafe Queensland.
Youturn is committed to investing in team members who embody our values and foster a collaborative culture of excellence across all aspects of our organisation.
Since the last Annual Report we have recruited and welcomed new employees across all areas of our business. We’ve also promoted from within where possible, to ensure our people have opportunities to grow into new roles, including our General Manager Corporate Strategy & Engagement, Tanya Bell, who was appointed as Youturn’s Chief Executive Officer in October 2021.
This year, the People & Culture team have focused on our workforce culture, retention, learning and development, and health and wellness.
Our team members are passionate and dedicated to making a real and sustainable difference in the communities in which we operate. We offer flexible working arrangements, a collaborative culture, individualised training, development opportunities, and a range of lifestyle, financial and wellbeing benefits.
Last year the COVID-19 Public Health and Medical Directives had a significant impact right across our organisation. After consultation with the workforce, Youturn released its own COVID vaccination policy which came into effect in January 2022.
We worked extensively with our Youturn team to implement the policy and at the end of June all our workforce was compliant with the policy.
*Total number of people we provided at least one service between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022.
Providing children and young people with safe and caring environments
Delivering affordable and sustainable housing for young people and families in our communities
Providing clinical and non-clinical support services to young people to manage their mental health
Supporting people and communities impacted by suicide
Youturn ensures that we place vulnerable people, and those that support them at the centre of our service delivery.
“Statistics tells the story..”
Our Support Services are described by the sectors in which they operate. This allows us to celebrate the reputation and strength of our programs within their respective sectors.
Please click on the name of the respective focus area below to view the year's highlights and information.
69% of those in our Intensive Family Support programs achieved all or most goals before exiting the program.
“Their service is flexible and open to discussion. Youturn is easy to work with and communication is very good. Youturn provides high quality service to children, service staff are creative and approachable and demonstrate great problem solving and commitment to seamless service provision. Youturn is strongly committed to complying with requirements under their Organisation Level Licence (OLL).”
Exceptional feedback received from the Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs at our Annual Licensing Review. The team were described as being dedicated to consistent and positive care provision.
35% of children in Residential Care transitioned to the SIL program or were reunited with family, whilst the remainder are still in Residential Care.
65% of children in our Supported Independent Living (SIL) program transitioned out of care, with the necessary skills to live independently, as adults, and are no longer subject to child protection orders.
As a Licensed Care provider, our Child Safety services and programs are funded by the Queensland Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs.
Youturn provides children and young people with safe and caring environments by providing a range of different parenting and child safety programs across the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba regions.
Youturn employs dedicated specialised staff to work with families, young people and children experiencing or who are at risk of harm.
Our team support:
Vulnerable families to help them to maintain the family unit; and
Children and young people (0-17 years) who are at risk of harm and cannot remain living safely with their parents.
Our financial counselling program, Money Matters has helped 207 people with debt repayments of $365,500.
17,179 – The total bed nights provided across our homelessness programs this last year.
In addition, Youturn gained extended funding to deliver community programs within Toowoomba that are targeted at reconnecting the youth within the community.
This year our team saw an increase in complexities surrounding referrals due to COVID-19. As a result, most programs have exceeded their KPIs by continuing to support young people and families by working collaboratively with other services to assist and transition them to stable and affordable accommodation.
Our Homelessness Services and Programs are funded by the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy.
Youturn has been providing youth homelessness services for more than 30 years and is recognised as a key provider of Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) across southern Queensland. Our services include both the provision of accommodation, with over 50 beds/night available across 20 properties, as well as wrap-around case management services for young people aged 16 to 25 years.
Our dedicated case officers support:
Young people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
Young families looking to identify long term, affordable and sustainable accommodation.
Successful rollout of the Early Careers Program has been really positive and is currently supporting graduates across Toowoomba, Caboolture, Maroochydore and Bundaberg headspace centres to gain the skills and knowledge to become fully accredited mental health practitioners.
headspace Maroochydore and Toowoomba have been successful in accessing additional funding over three years to increase staffing and reduce wait times.
All Youturn headspace centres have consistently received positive feedback from young people accessing their services, and a satisfaction rate of 4.15 out of five (above national average) was reported across 492 young people who completed our client satisfaction survey.
From a small satellite centre, this year, headspace Gympie received funding to become a full centre, supporting the youth of Gympie for not only improved mental health, but also vocational and employment support, physical and sexual health, and support those with AOD (Alcohol and Other Drugs) challenges.
Our headspace centres are funded on a regional basis through the PHN’s and Medical Benefits Schedule Billing.
Youturn’s mental health support services are for young people going through a tough time and needing friendly youth support. We work closely with young people to help get their lives back on track providing clinical and non-clinical support services such as social groups and activities.
As the lead agency for five headspace centres across South-East Queensland, Youturn focuses on early intervention and connecting young people (12 – 25 yrs) with a range of services and programs to ensure they receive comprehensive and individualised support.
Through the delivery of our mental health services, Youturn is committed to supporting:
Young people who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health problems; and
Those who support young people accessing our services.
This year, Youturn’s national program StandBy Support After Suicide marked 20 years of service in supporting those bereaved or impacted by suicide loss. StandBy hosted its annual forum ‘StandBy Connect 2022’ at the Novotel Twin Waters Resort with its national workforce, partners and guest speakers from Australia’s suicide prevention sector in attendance to connect and reflect on the 20-year journey in suicide postvention.
StandBy – an initiative funded by the Australian Government. Post Suicide Support – an initiative funded by the NSW Government.
StandBy Support After Suicide, a program of Youturn, is Australia’s leading provider of support after suicide, providing free face-to-face and telephone support to individuals, groups and the wider community bereaved or impacted by suicide.
Established in 2002 to meet the need for a coordinated community response to suicide, it has grown into an established and respected national program, becoming Australia’s leading provider in suicide postvention today.
In addition, community workshops and education programs are locally tailored and provide increased awareness of suicide and suicide bereavement, to help enable communities to support one another.
StandBy supports anyone bereaved or impacted by suicide including: Individuals, Families, Friends, Witnesses, First Responders and Service Providers.
StandBy established a preferred partner structure and operates nationally with respected local organisations, engaging their expertise within the community to deliver the most effective and culturally suitable support for each individual circumstance.
Creating independence
Our team have been flexible and innovative in finding ways to bridge the gap for some of our young people in residential care, who are very close to independence and outgrown the program, but not quite ready to live on their own.
By implementing a drop-down model of support, these young people can experience some independence, but still receive support that the Supported Independent Living (SIL) program provides.
As the young person’s confidence and independence grows, our team can decrease the level of support. This model of care really has had many positive outcomes and bridges the gap between the residential care program and the SIL program.
Tiny Homes with Big Heart
Since launching our “Big Hearts for Tiny Homes” initiative in 2020 to tackle youth homelessness on the Sunshine Coast, Youturn raised enough funds to build our first TWO tiny homes! The pandemic, flooding, trade shortages, and a few other hurdles meant some delays, however, with a lot of community support, and great work from our Youturn team, we are now looking forward to rolling up our Tiny Homes on site, and more importantly welcoming our first tenants.
This project is the first of it’s kind in Queensland to trial innovative alternative approaches to housing where land and housing stock are in short supply.
Partnerships with local governments are key to these types of innovative solutions.
Collaboration is Key
As part of the Sunshine Coast Eating Disorders Access Trial and the Transition Eating Disorders Care Program, this year headspace Maroochydore collaborated with the Butterfly Foundation in an early intervention program for young people (14 – 25yrs) experiencing eating disorders.
This project aimed to find practical solutions to the problem of access to treatment by supporting primary and allied health care providers in non-specialist private practice to treat eating disorders. A framework of good practice, based on the national eating disorders principles was promoted:
with specific interventions to improve access to clinical training in evidence-based treatment modalities,
integrated multi-disciplinary care, and
rebates to reduce the cost of treatment.
Australia’s first
accreditation program
The Suicide Prevention Accreditation Program supports organisations to implement safe, high-quality and effective suicide prevention and postvention programs in Australia. Suicide Prevention Australia partnered with people with lived experience of suicide, consumers, clinicians, service providers and accreditation experts to develop quality improvement standards.
As Australia’s first accredited program under the Suicide Prevention Australia’s Quality, Innovation, Performance standards, StandBy has continued to demonstrate best practice and continuous improvement by engaging UNSW Centre for Social Impact to develop an organisational Theory of Change and a review of assumed impacts.
“I just want to do better for myself and make the rest of my life, better than the start of my life” - Toby
Toby* is doing better than he ever imagined he could.
Toby has experienced more trauma and heartache than any child should have to face. He transitioned from another external residential care service, and has been in Youturn’s Supported Independent Living (SIL) program since March 2022.
Currently in Year 11, he attends a local Moreton Bay State school, has adjusted well and is doing great. He has a 100% attendance rate at school and is on the student leadership committee.
The Youturn team has worked with Toby to maintain the cleanliness of his home and provide him with skills to successfully maintain his placement whilst living alone. They also collectively identified regular recreational activities and our team provided transport to these activities.
Toby is now in shared accommodation and is fostering a healthy relationship with his new house mate. In addition, he has learnt how to manage his finances, set up a savings account and has created a weekly budget planner, which is displayed in his bedroom. He periodically deposits funds in preparation for when he transitions out of care at 18 and to help him with his next steps in life.
Youturn also supported Toby with creating a resume and handing them out, which has resulted in him successfully gaining employment in hospitality as a Porter, working part time when he is not at school or attending Rugby League commitments.
*Name changed to protect privacy
“I felt like I was treading water and would eventually drown. I was scared and exhausted, but Youturn helped me make sense of my predicament - now I can take control of my life and move on...”
Lisa* is a single young woman who experienced a troubled homelife with family and domestic violence. She had recently broken up with a long-term boyfriend, where she had been living in his family home and working in family business - a local café. The end of her relationship resulted in the loss of her home, work and her life started spiralling out of control.
Lisa also had some learning difficulties and mental health issues and was prone to making irrational decisions regarding her spending. During a manic phase of her illness, Lisa signed up to an online course of study costing $5,000, which she was not capable of completing.
Facing homelessness and financial strife, Lisa was unemployed and unable to pay for the course she signed up to.
Youturn supported Lisa with her housing situation, mental health challenges and negotiated a satisfactory outcome for her debt repayment through our Money Matters program. Lisa is now in casual employment, independent housing and is debt free.
*Name changed to protect privacy
“I am so thankful that I was able to go to headspace. I don’t know where I would be without them. It really helped me to learn what I needed at that time to get me to where I am today”.
Youturn is the lead agent for five (5) headspace sites in Southeast Queensland. Like most mental health services across Australia, Youturn’s mental health programs continue to experience large demand for their services. Even in the face of increasing demand, Youturn’s team work with partner organisations to ensure the best outcome for the young people we support.
Chris* was referred to headspace Toowoomba through the Queensland Police Service due to ongoing family conflict. Chris had a family history of suicide, current financial stressors, ongoing hostility from family around transgender identity, ongoing bullying and exposure to violence. Chris was feeling estranged and often couch surfing to escape their challenging home circumstances.
The team at headspace Toowoomba supported Chris through more than therapeutic interventions, including getting a laptop donated from a private school which enabled Chris to feel more confident to attend TAFE and pursue their goal of working in IT. In addition to this, the team supported Chris to find safe and affordable accommodation, and connected Chris with a voice coach, which had a significant impact on their confidence. Furthermore, Chris was able to be supported to navigate Centrelink by being connected with the right supports, which led to them having their own Medicare card and feeling able to access medical help with independence.
Chris’ story is one of many young people across Youturn’s headspace sites. Youturn works alongside partners and other services to go the extra mile, ensuring that no one falls through the cracks.
*Name changed to protect privacy
Chris’ story is one of many young people across Youturn’s headspace sites. Youturn works alongside partners and other services to go the extra mile, ensuring that no one falls through the cracks.
*Name changed to protect privacy
“Seven years after my Dad died by suicide, I was compelled to work for StandBy as a Lived Experience Worker. The desire to work in this field was more than a want, it was a compelling need for me. It was one of the first times in my life where I could talk about my journey, and express how awful it truly is. It has been one of the most validating experiences to be able to sit with bereaved people and hold space with them.
During my time with StandBy, my family became bereaved again as my brother took his life, and we were fortunate to receive support from StandBy. The difference in bereavement I experienced was hugely different. The pain we hold will never go away or change, but to know that someone is with you, who has a deep level of understanding of the complexities of this unimaginable experience, who is holding your pain with you is truly powerful. “
Hope is a Phone Support and Administration Worker for StandBy Support After Suicide Program.
Building Design Queensland (BDQ)
Our team have been flexible and innovative in finding ways to bridge the gap for some of our young people in residential care, who are very close to independence and outgrown the program, but not quite ready to live on their own.
By implementing a drop-down model of support, these young people can experience some independence, but still receive support that the Supported Independent Living (SIL) program provides.
As the young person’s confidence and independence grows, our team can decrease the level of support. This model of care really has had many positive outcomes and bridges the gap between the residential care program and the SIL program.
The Youturn It Up Festival (which was delayed twice by COVID) was finally held in April during Youth Week at NightQuarter.
The concert was hosted by our ambassadors, Sam and Tim of Sametime, who worked tirelessly to bring their vision to life.
With a great line up of local musicians and talented DJ’s, it was an awesome night, all for a good cause. Not only are we grateful for the funds that were raised, and the generous support of local businesses who sponsored the bands and purchased tickets for young people to attend, but also for the opportunity to raise awareness for Youturn and the work that we do in this region.
Youturn is proud to partner with socially responsible corporates and supporters to help us achieve our social goals and make a difference in our local communities. Whether it be for a project or longer term partnership, Youturn has valued the support we have received this year. Some of the incredible organisations have included:
Youturn is proud to partner with socially responsible corporates and supporters to help us achieve our social goals and make a difference in our local communities. Whether it be for a project or longer term partnership, Youturn has valued the support we have received this year. Some of the incredible organisations have included:
Building Design Queensland (BDQ)
Building Design Queensland have chosen to support Youturn as their first community partner, allowing us to tap into their expertise and skills to help us realise our vision for affordable housing across a number of projects.
Not only have they volunteered their skills and building project advice, they invited our CEO as a speaker at their annual awards dinner, and they have also nominated Youturn as the beneficiary of their fundraising initiatives.
“We truly believe that it takes a whole community response to address the big issues and for us this means working alongside organisationS like BDQ and its members”, said Dr Bell.
Youturn is proud to partner with socially responsible corporates and supporters to help us achieve our social goals and make a difference in our local communities. Whether it be for a project or longer term partnership, Youturn has valued the support we have received this year. Some of the incredible organisations have included:
Aussie Tiny Houses
Youturn has worked closely with Aussie Tiny Houses over the last 18 months to design and build two tiny homes. They shared our vision to find solutions to the current housing crisis. Not only did they carefully listen to understand our requirements and patiently work with us on the builds, they went beyond this to contribute financially to our fundraising efforts.
This mutual respect and successful collaboration has lead to Fabio, Alex and the Aussie Tiny Houses team continuing their association with Youturn by becoming a corporate partner. Believing in giving back to the local community, Aussie Tiny Houses will strive to create awareness, help inform and educate and raise funds to support the work that Youturn does.
Youturn is proud to partner with socially responsible corporates and supporters to help us achieve our social goals and make a difference in our local communities. Whether it be for a project or longer term partnership, Youturn has valued the support we have received this year. Some of the incredible organisations have included:
Jetts
Following last year’s Push Up Challenge, Jetts Caloundra were keen to come up with something different to raise awareness and fundraise for Youturn.
Jetts organised an Amazing Race, with Jetts members, Youturn and headspace staff and the community all coming together for an epic challenge – all for fun, fitness and fundraising for Youturn’s mental health programs.
Youturn is in discussions with Jetts, as a partner to extend this initiative across the Sunshine Coast, so watch this space…
Youturn is proud to partner with socially responsible corporates and supporters to help us achieve our social goals and make a difference in our local communities. Whether it be for a project or longer term partnership, Youturn has valued the support we have received this year. Some of the incredible organisations have included:
white’s iga
White’s IGA on the Sunshine Coast have been wonderful supporters of Youturn. For a second year they have hosted an in-store campaign over two weeks in March to fundraise for our mental health programs, actively encouraging our community to lend their support to this important initiative.
Joined by headspace Maroochydore, the Lions Club of Caloundra West and our Ambassadors Tim and Sam, we held a great event, which created a lot of buzz outside the IGA Baringa store.
Youturn is proud to partner with socially responsible corporates and supporters to help us achieve our social goals and make a difference in our local communities. Whether it be for a project or longer term partnership, Youturn has valued the support we have received this year. Some of the incredible organisations have included:
Henzells
With a generous contribution from Henzells Caloundra, Youturn was able to run various social prescribing programs for young people who are disengaged from school and struggling, looking for social interaction or wanting to learn a new skill.
This last year Youturn organised:
Fishin’ Mates Program: A mental wellbeing program for young men, presenting them with a chance to get outdoors, cast a line, de-stress and explore with the guidance of a mentor.
Self Defense for Teens: Offered young people the opportunity to learn effective and practical self-defense techniques to help build confidence and empower young people.
"This program honestly changed the trajectory of my son's life. He felt seen and heard and grew in confidence. He is doing so much better and it all started with Fishin' Mates.
I am so grateful to Harry and the Youturn team." (Mum)
Funding to support the work we do comes from a range of sources. Whilst our predominant source of income is through Government grants, our income from donations is steadily growing as our philanthropic journey continues to develop.
Youturn strives to ensure that the majority of the funding we receive goes directly to those we support. The breakdown of the proportion of our expenses which are directly incurred from the delivery of our services and programs, tracks how well we do in achieving this aim.
A full copy of our financial statements, notes and commentary as at 30 June 2022 can be viewed and downloaded as PDF here.
Ensuring we place young and vulnerable people, and those that support them at the centre of our service delivery.
Investing in team members who embody our values to foster a collaborative culture of excellence.
Achieving long-term financial sustainability through strategic growth of innovative, value for money services.
Embracing our commitment to a quality, safe environment for all.
Engaging to create meaningful connections based on trust and respect.
Ensuring we place young and vulnerable people, and those that support them at the centre of our service delivery.
Like many organisations across Australia, Youturn’s mental health services are experiencing high demand resulting in longer wait times. In an effort to find alternatives for the people we support, Youturn partnered with the University of NSW and Black Dog Institute to participate in a world first trial of a mixed Virtual Reality (VR) room to support mental health.
This powerful tool, called Edge of the Present, has shown to improve mood, wellbeing, and positive future thinking, as well as alleviate thoughts of hopelessness and stimulate a sense of peace and mindfulness.
Bringing it to community for the first time, the trial has been very successful and has attracted a lot of people wanting to explore complimentary options to support mental health and wellbeing.
Investing in team members who embody our values to foster a collaborative vulture of excellence.
Achieving long-term financial sustainability through strategic growth of innovative, value for money services.
Embracing our commitment to a quality, risk free, safe environment for all.
Engaging to create meaningful connections based on trust and respect.
THOSE WE SUPPORT
Ensuring we place young and vulnerable people, and those that support them at the centre of our service delivery.
Youturn values the health and wellness of our team members and this year we partnered with WHEREFIT©, a corporate fitness and wellbeing benefits platform, offering access to exclusive discounts of up to 40% off at leading fitness and wellbeing brands across Australia.
Investing in team members who embody our values to foster a collaborative vulture of excellence.
Achieving long-term financial sustainability through strategic growth of innovative, value for money services.
Embracing our commitment to a quality, risk free, safe environment for all.
Engaging to create meaningful connections based on trust and respect.
OUR WORKFORCE
Ensuring we place young and vulnerable people, and those that support them at the centre of our service delivery.
Like many service delivery charities, a large proportion of Youturn’s income is based on grant funding. As part of our philanthropic journey, Youturn is collaborating with corporate partners to help them achieve their Environmental Social Governance (ESG) goals. This is a new approach for Youturn and will support our diversification of funding, ensuring our sustainability.
Investing in team members who embody our values to foster a collaborative vulture of excellence.
Achieving long-term financial sustainability through strategic growth of innovative, value for money services.
Embracing our commitment to a quality, risk free, safe environment for all.
Engaging to create meaningful connections based on trust and respect.
OUR SUSTAINABILITY
Ensuring we place young and vulnerable people, and those that support them at the centre of our service delivery.
Youturn has made significant enhancements in the processes of identifying, reporting and escalating hazards or incidents. Due to these enhancements, there is now one consistent process and form for identifying and reporting hazards or incidents, regardless of which area of the business our teams work.
This has enabled Youturn to improve monitoring, impact reporting and safety, which is already resulting in earlier identification and improvements, and ultimately, improved the quality of our services for the people we support.
Investing in team members who embody our values to foster a collaborative vulture of excellence.
Achieving long-term financial sustainability through strategic growth of innovative, value for money services.
Embracing our commitment to a quality, risk free, safe environment for all.
Engaging to create meaningful connections based on trust and respect.
OUR QUALITY
Ensuring we place young and vulnerable people, and those that support them at the centre of our service delivery.
To find innovative ways to support young men’s health, Youturn and headspace Maroochydore, together with Kawana Shoppingworld organised an urban art group activity for young men (12 – 25 years) during Mental Health Week in October.
Collaborating with well-known urban artist Sarah Sculley and Aboriginal portrait artist, Jandamarra Cadd, a group of young men designed and created a visual story full of symbolism on connection and community, blending First Nations and contemporary styles.
This Urban Art project aimed to help build resilience, develop social connections, and inspire young men to talk openly and have a voice on issues important to them.
Art can help to explore and interpret stories, share and learn more about how other people see the world. Participation in art activities helps expand our networks, strengthen our social bonds and bring our communities closer together – the foundations for wellbeing.
Investing in team members who embody our values to foster a collaborative vulture of excellence.
Achieving long-term financial sustainability through strategic growth of innovative, value for money services.
Embracing our commitment to a quality, risk free, safe environment for all.
Engaging to create meaningful connections based on trust and respect.
OUR COMMUNITIES
We are continually striving to find new ways to assist the communities in which we work…
Despite our 2020-2025 Strategic Plan being developed in pre-COVID times, Youturn has continued to pave progress towards our goals. At the end of our second year, we achieved a great deal across all five areas of strategic focus and investment. This is largely due to our purpose remaining clear – to support vulnerable people in our community.
This year we have continued to adapt in response to both internal and external factors that have had the potential to disrupt our services. Like previous years, the biggest challenges we faced related to increasing mental health issues as well as the continually evolving housing crisis.
Youturn committed our own resources and established key partnerships with government, private and community sectors to address what can be considered as the biggest social and health issues of recent times.
In mental health, we have continued to innovate and work outside traditional health sector partners turning our focus to areas including education, fitness and the arts to develop and deliver bespoke programs focused on sustainable outcomes.
Youturn has self-funded the building of duplexes in Toowoomba to provide additional stock aimed at filling the affordable housing gap that is driving the housing crisis.
We have gained new Corporate Partners and Preferred Suppliers throughout the year who share our values and goals, including Heritage Bank, Optus, Henzells Agency and many more. These strategic partnerships enable Youturn to do far more than what is possible with our government funding.
Through in-kind support, discounts, givebacks and donations we have been able to achieve some of our key strategic priorities over the last year that would have otherwise taken longer to realise.
Like many service delivery agencies across Australia, and around the world, the last three years have dramatically impacted and forever changed our organisation. We have faced challenges that we could not have imagined and have flexed our operations to overcome these whilst remaining focused on our purpose.
There is no doubt that our 2020-2025 Strategic Plan has served Youturn well as we navigated a new name and direction for our organisation. However, as we continue to evolve and grow in a post-pandemic world it is important that we are prepared to challenge our goals and priorities to ensure we remain relevant and current. Whilst our strategy has developed organically since our plan’s release in 2020, with a new Federal Government as well as emerging social and political priorities, this next year will see the Youturn Board and Executive formally review and update our Strategic Plan.
We will continue to evaluate and consider our value in initiatives that support local, state and federal government strategy and direction including:
The Federal Government’s Housing Reform Agenda which aims to encourage and support collaboration across all levels of government to make it easier for Australians to access safe and secure housing.
Stage 2 of the Federal Government’s National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan which focuses on prevention and early intervention, support for vulnerable people along with a commitment to address workforce and governance gaps.
Participating in the Queensland Government’s Housing Summit which will feed into National Cabinet’s consideration of the issue of housing and cost of living.
Working with all levels of government to implement the Bilateral Schedule on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.
Youturn is also at a critical point in its journey with the operation of services across multiple states and territories for the first time in our 32-year history. This growth outside of Queensland, with our national StandBy Support After Suicide program, has seen us adapt and develop our business processes as well as increase our focus on attraction and retention of our skilled and specialised workforce. As we continue to expand, this will mean an increase in our efforts in these areas along with refining our incident management procedures as part of ensuring the well-being and safety of all those who engage with us.
As we look to the future our purpose remains firmly on supporting vulnerable people, our path is full of opportunities, and we are looking forward to mapping our new direction towards supporting more people in the areas of Housing/Homelessness and Mental Health/Suicide Prevention.
In order to deliver consistent and sustainable outcomes, Youturn relies on the collaboration of government, organisations, agencies, businesses, and supportive communities. We are incredibly thankful for the generous support and working relationships we have to help us make a difference.
