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Without timely and targeted intervention, young adults are at a high risk of missing out on a strong entry into the labour market, resulting in long-term financial disadvantage. Mentoring programs have gained popularity in recent years, especially in relation to young people, as they meet a human need for the giving and receiving of intergenerational support. The Mentoring 2 Work (M2W) Project was designed to assist unemployed young people find work through mentoring support. Delivered under the Australian Government Department of Social Services' 'Try, Test and Learn' fund, with [Council on the Ageing, Western Australia] COTA WA selected as the backbone organisation of the program, the project provided one-on-one mentoring support to unemployed young adults with a focus on career exploration, job-readiness and finding a job. The M2W initiative paired unemployed young adults (aged 18 to 25) at risk of long-term unemployment with a volunteer mentor, who supported them through the processes of identifying a career, searching for work, and preparing for employment. To be eligible to participate, the young person needed to: be aged under 25; have received a welfare payment in the 6 months prior to recruitment; and not have a significant connection to the workforce.

This process evaluation report focuses on the program operation, beginning with recruitment, screening and sign up followed by training and preparation form mentors and mentees. It presents the processes for matching mentors and mentees, mentoring activities, support from project staff and program closure. It concludes with key observations and considerations that underpin the project's activities.

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Without timely and targeted intervention, young adults are at a high risk of missing out on a strong entry into the labour market, resulting in long-term financial disadvantage. Mentoring programs have gained popularity in recent years, especially in relation to young people, as they meet a human need for the giving and receiving of intergenerational support. The Mentoring 2 Work (M2W) Project was designed to assist unemployed young people find work through mentoring support. Delivered under the Australian Government Department of Social Services' 'Try, Test and Learn' fund, with [Council on the Ageing, Western Australia] COTA WA selected as the backbone organisation of the program, the project provided one-on-one mentoring support to unemployed young adults with a focus on career exploration, job-readiness and finding a job. The M2W initiative paired unemployed young adults (aged 18 to 25) at risk of long-term unemployment with a volunteer mentor, who supported them through the processes of identifying a career, searching for work, and preparing for employment. To be eligible to participate, the young person needed to: be aged under 25; have received a welfare payment in the 6 months prior to recruitment; and not have a significant connection to the workforce.

This design and implementation report outlines how best-practice principles were applied in the design and implementation of the M2W Project and discusses some key learnings that emerged from its delivery. The report is divided into two main parts. The first part discusses employment mentoring and presents the M2W model. This is followed by a discussion on program design, program operation and program evaluation. The focus then turns to implementation, covering the various elements of program delivery, including program marketing and participant recruitment, participant screening, the matching process, participant training, mentoring activities, ongoing support from program staff, and program closure.

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Without timely and targeted intervention, young adults are at a high risk of missing out on a strong entry into the labour market, resulting in long-term financial disadvantage. Mentoring programs have gained popularity in recent years, especially in relation to young people, as they meet a human need for the giving and receiving of intergenerational support. The Mentoring 2 Work (M2W) Project was designed to assist unemployed young people find work through mentoring support. Delivered under the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS) 'Try, Test and Learn' fund, with [Council on the Ageing Western Australia] COTA WA selected as the backbone organisation of the program, the project provided one-on-one mentoring support to unemployed young adults with a focus on career exploration, job-readiness and finding a job. The M2W initiative paired unemployed young adults (aged 18 to 25) at risk of long-term unemployment with a volunteer mentor, who supported them through the processes of identifying a career, searching for work, and preparing for employment. To be eligible to participate, the young person needed to: be aged under 25; have received a welfare payment in the 6 months prior to recruitment; and not have a significant connection to the workforce.

This report presents background on youth unemployment in Australia, followed by a demographic profile of participants. Then, based on the young peoples' survey responses, outcomes for M2W and control group participants across a variety of domains relevant to employment, namely health, education, housing, wellbeing, job readiness, barriers to employment, and employment are presented. Mentoring experiences are then explored, primarily for the M2W group; however, the control group's experiences of formal and informal mentoring received from sources other than M2W are examined. Finally, a conclusion chapter summarises the findings and comments on the implications for continuation of the program and youth unemployment in Australia.

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Without timely and targeted intervention, young adults are at a high risk of missing out on a strong entry into the labour market, resulting in long-term financial disadvantage. Mentoring programs have gained popularity in recent years, especially in relation to young people, as they meet a human need for the giving and receiving of intergenerational support. The Mentoring 2 Work (M2W) Project was designed to assist unemployed young people find work through mentoring support. Delivered under the Australian Government Department of Social Services' 'Try, Test and Learn' fund, with [Council on the Ageing, Western Australia] COTA WA selected as the backbone organisation of the program, the project provided one-on-one mentoring support to unemployed young adults with a focus on career exploration, job-readiness and finding a job. The M2W initiative paired unemployed young adults (aged 18 to 25) at risk of long-term unemployment with a volunteer mentor, who supported them through the processes of identifying a career, searching for work, and preparing for employment. To be eligible to participate, the young person needed to: be aged under 25; have received a welfare payment in the 6 months prior to recruitment; and not have a significant connection to the workforce.

This report presents the experiences of the mentors and mentees who participated in the [post-Coronavirus Disease 2019] post-COVID-19 program extension (Stage 4). The feedback presented in this report is underpinned by the caveat that program activities (mentoring) were continuing beyond the evaluation time period, and therefore the impact of mentoring on mentees is not fully captured. The report is structured as follows: the background and context of the program is presented; this is followed by a discussion on youth unemployment in Australia; the evaluation methodology is then presented; and this is followed by a demographic profile of the participants; the survey results are then presented and discussed; the report concludes with a discussion on the main outcomes of the program.

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