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Youth at risk can be characterised as young people who experience difficulty negotiating their life options after completing school and do not engage in further study or employment. This paper examines selected results of a large-scale survey of Queensland youth who completed their schooling in 1997. Four groups of young people were compared: those enrolled in tertiary study via the admissions centre, those in employment, those who were undertaking another form of further study, and those who were unemployed or not in the labour force. Youth at risk were remarkably similar to other young people regarding their reasons for not studying and their access to information about their post-school options. The main differences between those at risk and other young people were their achievement at school, their failure to apply for tertiary study through an admissions centre, and their parents’ highest level of education. These findings have a number of implications for the future study and employment prospects of youth at risk.

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This paper has two aims. It considers what social inclusion could offer young people and the youth sector in Australia, and it reflects on how social inclusion has shaped the youth policy environment in Australia. It is argued that in order to consider these issues, it is necessary to understand social inclusion’s history. Using a methodology of policy analysis based on Bacchi’s (2009) approach, this paper explores the policy context of social inclusion in Europe and the United Kingdom, offering these as a comparison with Australia. It is argued that social inclusion is a policy chimera, and that it plays all-too-familiar roles in policies that target young people.

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Efforts to monitor and improve young people’s school-to-work transitions have not generated a discernable change in patterns of social inclusion among young people. Educational approaches that promote social inclusion need to take account of the changing social and economic realities with which all young Australians engage, and address important aspects of young people’s lives such as identity and wellbeing. Despite attempts to respond to the changes in young people’s learning needs, there is a disjuncture between educational policies that continue to frame education within an industrial model and the requirements that young people themselves have for the capacity to be good navigators through new economies, to live well, and to engage with complexity and diversity.

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A preliminary evaluation of the effect of the Work for the Dole program on participants found that the program failed the most disadvantaged jobseekers because it did not respond adequately to the varying personal circumstances of participants. Although there were some positive aspects of participation, particularly for voluntary participants, the program did not build employment skills or increase employment commitment and self-esteem.

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Students are most likely to drop out of university when first attending. This article analyses the use of technology in supporting the transition process of ‘first time’ university students enrolled in a second-year accounting course. Study-MATE, a study skills program utilising the university’s learning management system (LMS) - Blackboard, Google Calendar and text messaging - was introduced at the beginning of first semester. At the end of the semester, 77 students completed an online evaluation form. The research results reveal that 60 per cent of these students thought the program had raised their awareness of the university’s study skills services, but only 33 per cent found this program helped improve their study skills. Overall, the research results highlight several challenges and necessary considerations in the implementation of study skills programs.

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The Auckland City Council arts team has managed several successful youth arts projects across the city of Auckland. The council aims to establish a best-practice standard for community artists in line with international standards of community cultural development. This reflective paper explores the processes, impacts and outcomes of some of the council’s community arts projects, which involved diverse young people in the Wesley, Mt Roskill neighbourhoods. In her documentation of these projects, Sarah Houbolt, the council’s Community Arts Coordinator (Youth) outlines a community cultural development practice framework, gives examples of successful project models and shares experiences of working in these Auckland communities.

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Prevalence rates and reasons for substance use were studied in a sample of 172 male construction industry apprentices who had a mean age of 20 years. Results were compared with those of men in similar age groups in Victoria, and regional and age differences were explored. Findings indicate that more metropolitan apprentices had experimented with cannabis, amphetamines and cocaine than their rural/regional counterparts. However, more rural apprentices indicated consuming alcohol than their metropolitan counterparts. Apart from alcohol use, older apprentices (aged 20 years and over) were also more likely to have used cannabis, amphetamines and cocaine than younger apprentices (aged 15-19 years). The majority of apprentices used substances for enjoyment (’It is fun/I like it’) or social reasons (’Friends use it’). The findings are discussed in the context of the literature, and suggestions for future research are made.

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In light of the recent election of the Rudd Labor government, and the highlighting of social inclusion as a ministerial portfolio and policy direction, this paper considers the relationship between ‘youth participation’ and social inclusion. It argues that the neoliberal social and economic policies of the Howard era resulted in social exclusion for many young people and also limited their capacity to participate. It also asks whether social inclusion is the pathway to creating capacity for young people to participate. Drawing on both the UK experience and the policies of the Rudd government, it flags potential problems with a social inclusion agenda in terms of its ability to increase young people’s capacity for inclusion.

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What are the major challenges facing youth work in Australia in the future? Are they environmental, global, economic, professional or demographic? Are they none, or all, of the above? [The author] discusses the possible impact of these factors and more in her invitation to the sector to engage in a discussion that is vital to the ongoing development of youth work as a respected profession that is effective in the service it offers to young people.

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The literature has identified some potential problems and challenges associated with teenage part-time workers and the nature of the workplaces that employ them. However a large national project on student-working found few problems in the two companies researched because these companies had policies in place that addressed the potential problems. Some suggestions are made about how problems and challenges could be avoided in a wider range of adolescent workplaces.

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