This paper examines the rise of social enterprise in relation (and in response) to the contemporary nexus between education and work. Contextualising social enterprise within the broader trend toward private influences in education, the paper explores how diffuse networks driven by both market ideals and a social conscience are shaping new sites…

Adolescence and young adulthood is a critical period in a person's life. Young people can experience rapid physical, social and emotional changes. For many, these changes occur while they are also making the transition from dependence to independence. This is a time for finishing school, pursuing further training and education, entering the…

Faced with broad scale cancellation of allied health student placements due to COVID-19, placement coordinators at The University of Melbourne Department of Rural Health established remote, online work-integrated learning placements across a range of settings, including a primary school, specialist school, kindergarten association and a…

Across national contexts, in the attempt to develop and buttress "knowledge economies", increasing pressure is placed on the need for flexible lifelong learners capable of constant knowledge and skills renewal. In this paper, I explore the impact of this broader sociopolitical context on the policy approach to poverty and, in particular,…

Child poverty is a global issue that affects around half the children in the world; it is inextricably bound to the poverty experienced by their parents and families and has been identified by the United Nations as a human rights issue. Child poverty can be a barrier to children and young people accessing school education or achieving any form of…

This article aims to contribute to understandings of youth homelessness and subjectivity by analysing identity construction in terms of young people's negotiation of the structural and institutional environment of youth homelessness. I suggest that while existing literature on this topic concentrates mainly on micro-social encounters, the…

Current research demonstrates relationships between child abuse and neglect, homelessness and criminal activity. This report presents key findings from analysis of a data set linking three community-sector data collections: Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP), juvenile justice supervision, and child protection notifications and…

Drawing upon empirical data from four research projects undertaken in Adelaide, South Australia, we examine the cumulative effects of deprivation on the lives of young people. Utilising a social exclusion framework for analysis we demonstrate the dynamic interplay between the various dimensions of social exclusion. We present the experiences and…

The third national census of homeless school students, conducted in 2006, found that the number of homeless students had decreased since 2001. There were 9,389 homeless students in 2006 compared with 12,227 in 2001. Three groups were over-represented in the homeless population: Indigenous students, young people from single parent and blended…

Sexual health promotion is of primary importance for young people in Australia, especially for vulnerable and at-risk young people. The authors first identify the important role of youth workers in engaging clients proactively around a broad range of sexual health issues, and then discuss real and perceived barriers that youth workers face in…

In an effort to address the issue of youth homelessness in Australia, Regional Extended Family Services (REFS) have developed a wilderness-based therapeutic intervention. REFS aim to provide early intervention services for young people at risk of homelessness, and their families. This study examined the outcomes of the REFS wilderness program by…

This article explores the implementation of the Victorian Youth Employment, Education and Training Initiative (YEETI). This statewide initiative delivered brokerage funds to homeless young people through their housing advocates. One of the findings of the project was that the main barrier to young people achieving a stable continuum in their lives…

To help explain why some young people move from recreational drug use to substance abuse, twelve in-depth interviews were conducted with young people who had experienced problematic substance use. The data were supplemented by statistical data on 111 young people. The researchers found a variety of "structural" factors that help explain…

This paper examines data drawn from interviews with homeless people who were undertaking a "Clemente" programme offered by the Australian Catholic University in the Vincentian Village in East Sydney. The "Clemente" programme, conceptualised by Shorris, is based on the belief that an education in the humanities empowers people…

This book examines how social and economic changes in the past 20 years have affected the lives of Western youth and changed their attitudes toward and experiences of work, education, relationships, and health. Part 1 reviews 10 years of research, policy, and practice related to individuals aged 15-30 in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United…