David Moncrieff (Hughes, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

All young people in our community have a lot of pressures with which they need to deal, but these pressures are compounded when there are other disadvantages that young people face. That's why I'm so proud of the work that Project Youth do in my community. They offer programs that provide support for young people aged 12 to 24 across southern Sydney facing a range of disadvantages, including homelessness, mental ill health, drug and alcohol dependency and unemployment. These are programs that enable young people to be connected, safe, achieving and healthy. They're qualities that all young people should be able to reach.

Project Youth have been doing incredible work in my community for decades. They began with just three staff members in 1993, and now they run 22 programs across three teams. Project Youth have had an office in Menai, in the heart of Hughes, since 2002, and in 2014 they started Cafe Y, later called Cafe Social, which served as a hospitality training hub for vulnerable youth.

The community was so sad to see this service come to an end a few weeks ago, but I want to pay tribute to the impact that it had over its 11 years. Three hundred and forty-eight people were directly supported through trauma informed wraparound employment services that produced job-ready candidates. The work of Project Youth does continue, even though Cafe Social has finished, and it's across those three teams that it continues to play a vital role in giving young people the support that they need to fulfil their potential. I want to thank Project Youth for the incredible work that they continue to do.

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