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2010s

Expanding support for young people

2010

Embedding young people's participation

2010

Embedding young people's participation within the organisational structure – establishing the Youth Advisory Group

While young people had played a critical role in the work of the organisation since its earliest days, the establishment of the Youth Advisory Group (or YAG) in 2010 formerly embedded young people’s participation as a core component of CMY’s organisational structure.

This first YAG was made up of 10 young people aged between 16 and 26 from multicultural and multi-faith backgrounds. Their role recognised young people as ‘experts’, best placed to articulate issues impacting on their lives and identify solutions. The establishment of the Youth Advisory Group at this time, meant that in their inaugural year, the YAG could play a centrally influential role in the development of CMY’s first strategic plan as an independent organisation.

The YAG continues to occupy this central role within the CMY structure today, with YAG’s operating from Melbourne as well as the regional areas of Ballarat and Gippsland.

Members of CMY's first YAG CMY's first Youth Advisory Group: Chuol, Farah, Nyabouk, Michelle and Victor. Other YAG members included: Annie, Bol, Chi, Maysa and Sinke.

“Young people are central to our success; they are our key strength. We recognised their importance this year, with the formation of a Youth Advisory Group.”

- Carmel Guerra, Chief Executive Officer, CMY 2010/11 Annual Report

Annie Xu and Nasro Yussf at Participation Forum in 2010. Image credit: Angela Bailey Annie Xu and Nasro Yussf at Participation Forum in 2010. Image credit: Angela Bailey

2011

Expanding support for young people on the urban fringe and in the regions.

2011

Expanding support for young people on the urban fringe and in the regions

The new decade saw CMY expand its reach and presence into the metropolitan growth corridors of Melbourne and regional areas in Victoria to strengthen their response to newly arrived young people within the communities in which they were settling. CMY’s regional presence was first established through a new office in Inner Gippsland in 2011, and in Ballarat the following year to elevate the needs and voices of multicultural youth. CMY built upon their experience and track record of working with local governments and a range of local agencies, to continue to provide targeted support in growth corridor areas with high migrant settlement.

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2011

Developing new approaches

2011

Developing new approaches to supporting young people who arrive under the humanitarian settlement program.

In 2011, in response to a significant increase in the number of young people (particularly young men from Afghanistan) arriving as unaccompanied refugee minors, CMY designed a new program model and piloted it to provide intensive settlement support to these young people. Over the coming year, CMY also developed programs specifically tailored to the engagement needs of newly arrived young women in Dandenong and Casey and for newly arrived young men in Dandenong, creating opportunities for participation for these young people who were otherwise hard to reach within their communities.

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2012

Raising awareness about LGBTIQ+ young people’s experiences.

2012

Raising awareness about LGBTIQ+ young people’s experiences

In 2012, through the Animate Change project, CMY supported young people who identify as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex or Queer (GLBTIQ) to create the short, animated film to illustrate what can happen when generations, cultures and sexuality collide: In My Shoes, A Short Film About Age Culture and Sexuality.

2013

The first CMY Mary Danckert Youth Internship is awarded.

Asunta Akeri was awarded CMY's first Mary Danckert Youth Internship in 2013.

2013

The first CMY Mary Danckert Youth Internship is awarded

In 2013, Asunta Akeri became the first recipient of CMY’s Mary Danckert Youth Internship. The internship is awarded in the memory of the late Mary Danckert who worked at CMY from 2005 to 2013 as Manager of Youth Support.

Asunta was a founding member of the Sudanese Australian Youth Action Group and a finalist of the National Youth Awards before being awarded the internship. Asunta saw the internship as an opportunity to develop her skills so that one day she may establish her own organisation supporting young people to develop their skills and support their local community.

2013

A new vision.

2013

A new vision.

In 2013, as part of the release of their new strategic plan, CMY articulated their new vision, which remains today:

Young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds are connected, empowered and influential Australians.

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Attendees gather at CMY's Young African Men's Program Camp. Attendees gather at CMY's Young African Men's Program Camp.

2014

Young people’s voices amplified.

2014

Young people’s voices amplified through the Shout Out project.

In order to create a means through which the voices of young people of migrant or refugee background could be more broadly heard across the community, CMY created the Shout Out project in 2014.

Within its first year of operation, 18 young people were provided with training in public speaking, a public speakers bureau was created, a website promoting the speakers was launched and 35 speaking engagements were delivered to over 2,000 people. This proved to be a powerful way of bringing young people’s voices to a broad audience and Shout Out continues to operate through CMY today.

Barry Berih, one of CMY's Shout Out speakers during 2017-2018. Barry Berih, one of CMY's Shout Out speakers during 2017-2018.
Roghayeh (Rocky) Sadeghi, one of CMY's Shout Out speakers during 2017-2018. Roghayeh (Rocky) Sadeghi, one of CMY's Shout Out speakers during 2017-2018.

2014

An expanding diverse workforce supporting a growing range of programs.

2014

An expanding diverse workforce supporting a growing range of programs

From 2014, as a result of CMY’s continued advocacy, CMYs programming continued to expand. Now with a staff team of almost 80 employees, half of whom were under 35 years and who came from 21 different countries of origin, CMY was well placed to deliver programs with young people in a myriad of areas including education, employment, sports, homelessness prevention and early intervention, support for unaccompanied minors, complex case support, settlement support, gender and ethno-specific programs tailored for specific cohorts of young people, sector development, leadership development and the arts. In the 2014-15 year, over 900 young people were engaged in CMY’s programs and 1,000 volunteers offered their support to these programs.

Dan West, Daniel Haile Michael, Mazna Komba and Jen Barry at CMY Participation Forum. Image credit: Angela Bailey

2015

Creating new pathways into business and employment.

2015

Creating new pathways into business and employment.

From 2015, youth unemployment had been on the rise again reaching peaks not seen since the 1990s and CMY understood that migrant and refugee young people would face particular barriers to jobs in this context.

In response, CMY delivered their tailored Employment Pathways program to support young people facing barriers to employment, and accessed new funding support from philanthropic sources to develop innovative projects in business generation empowering emerging entrepreneurs in Melbourne’s western growth corridor.

2016

Responding to public debate on crime.

2016

Responding to public debate on migrant and refugee young people and crime

In 2016, there was a significant increase in focus within the media and public debate on the involvement of young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds in crime. CMY’s response was to provide advice to Government on a range of multicultural youth justice issues and create opportunities for young people to have their voices heard by decision makers, both to share their personal experiences of the impact of racialised reporting of crime and to challenge some of the discriminatory attitudes this reporting and public debate fuels.

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CMY research report in partnership with Monash University and the University of Melbourne: Don't Drag Me Into This: Growing Up South Sudanese in Victoria After The 2016 Moomba 'riot'. CMY research report in partnership with Monash University and the University of Melbourne: Don't Drag Me Into This: Growing Up South Sudanese in Victoria After The 2016 Moomba 'riot'.

‘There are times we belong here, and there are times that we don’t. And … we don’t want to belong here only when we’re doing positive things. We want to belong here no matter what.’

– Participant of focus group, informing the ‘Don’t drag me into this’ report

2016

A new approach to empowerment.

2016

A new approach to empowerment – launching the ‘Le Mana’ Pasifika Project

CMY launched the ‘Le Mana’ Pasifika project in 2016, a collaboration between State and Local Governments and the Pasifika community to engage young people in school and with their community.

In 2018, Le Mana Pasifika expanded its reach, and Le Mana has quickly established itself as a trusted adviser and connection point between the community, young people, families, schools and service providers.

Le Mana (Empower) Pasifika Project team members, Paora, Temese and Sef. Le Mana (Empower) Pasifika Project team members, Paora, Temese and Sef.

2018

CMY delivers culturally responsive youth mental health initiatives into schools

2018

CMY delivers culturally responsive youth mental health initiatives into schools.

After members of the CMY Youth Advisory Group recommended to the Board of Governance that they develop a mental health program targeting culturally diverse young people, the organisation developed the Reverb program.

In keeping with the recommendations of the YAG, the program is co-designed and co-delivered by young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds with lived experience of mental illness, mental health service providers and CMY.

2018

Imagining the future.

2018

Imagining the future

As CMY approached its 30th year in 2018, the organisation, led by the Board, undertook a comprehensive future visioning exercise to imagine CMY in 2030.

By this time, the population of migrant and refugee young people in Australia had tipped just over 50 per cent of all young people.

CMY’s organisation had also grown in both size and diversity, with a staff team of 120 people from 31 different countries of birth and identifying with 47 different cultural backgrounds, working across Victoria.

Over 870 volunteers had been directly engaged in CMY’s activities, and 4,357 young people had been directly participated in CMYs programs over the 2017-18 year.

Next Decade

Ready to uncover the next chapter of CMY’s history? Click here to explore the 2020s and see how CMY continued to shape the future for multicultural youth.

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