Lead On Australia is a community enhancement model (or community enterprise structure) designed to enable young people to engage and become involved in real life business and community activities in communities across Australia. Lead On’s objective – to develop and broaden the range of skills and experience our young people have in community – also enables us to involve groups of community leaders and business and thus broaden everyone’s horizon in relation to the contribution our young people can make in each of our communities.

Lead On is a program that builds the capacity of a community through the development of young people. It has been purpose-built to incorporate all sections of the community and to provide exposure for young people to real-life projects and community activities. Lead On does not look to duplicate the great programs in existence in each community, but rather to engage, unite and link these activities with individual projects that can improve our prospects of sustainable success. The projects undertaken represent a broad range of activities across community embracing business, educational organisations, local government, health and welfare organisations, new innovations, new enterprises, etc. Many projects seek to enhance whole-of-community outcomes.

Young people are the key clientele and Lead On’s strength is that it welcomes (and attracts) young people from the entire youth sector and find ways to engage them with older people from the community. All Lead On projects and activities aim to integrate young people into the community (not segregate them or have them work in youth-based silos). Lead On brings together young people from diverse backgrounds and involves them in activities which expose them to a broad range of community structures and activities – which is so essential in creating a healthy, fair society.

Achievements to Date (snapshot of our progress)

• More than 3000 young people have now actively participated in Lead On facilitated projects or programs. We estimate this equates to more than 70,000 hours of activity where young people do something for themselves and their community.
  
• Lead On Australia has offices (13) in Bendigo, Ballarat, Echuca/Moama, Mildura, Swan Hill and Maryborough ( Victoria) Ipswich, Cairns, Noosa, Beaudesert and Toowoomba (Queensland), Hobart (Tasmania), Griffith (NSW), and is delivering outreach programs into Narrandera (NSW) and the Cradle Coast region of Tasmania. Plans are in place to open a centre in Bayswater (WA).
  
• More than 200 young people have gained employment as a direct result of their Lead On involvement.
  
• Hundreds of young people have found new mentors and role models from their communities and have been exposed to what is possible within their community.
  
• A number of Lead On centres are achieving sustainability. They are funded and driven by local community and broad engagement of participants.

The Year in Review

2004-05 celebrated the sixth year of operation of Lead On Australia. The past six years have seen continued growth, development and achievements for both the Lead On model and the young people who have participated.

We continue to be challenged year-on-year to attract the funding required from all levels of government, business and the community. The unique approach we take to focus on broad engagement of participants means it is more difficult to attract funds often aimed at discrete groups and activities within each community.

We would like to thank all funding supporters for their faith in our ability to produce excellent outcomes for the young participants, and for each community and business which has put forward projects and assisted in Lead On activities. We continue to increase the number of local supporters, funders and project providers in each location, thus moving to greater sustainability in each branch site.

As Chairman and CEO, we would like to offer our special thanks for the corporate support and funding provided to Lead On Australia by the Bendigo Bank Group. This support is essential to enable Lead On Australia to continue to develop the model and to provide ongoing and essential support to each branch site and all outreach projects. We also acknowledge the Commonwealth Department of Family and Communities Services for the funding support it has provided Lead On Australia.

2004-05 has been another year of growth and balanced with a focus on consolidating the existing Lead On centres. To address the continued demand for Lead On activities, we have developed innovative products that can be delivered via outreach programs. These programs are being rolled out with communities across Australia, with business plans and operational assistance from Lead On Australia.

We have continued to support the existing – and still very new – Lead On branches, as well as supporting the roll-out of these outreach activities. Set out below are some of Lead On’s outreach achievements and activities.

Development of Outreach Program (such as Community Door and LOOP)

• Community Door is a significant new ‘product’ for Lead On. In simple terms, it is a process and approach for bringing young people onto local boards and committees. The Bendigo pilot has seen more than 20 young people now sitting around local committee and board tables – making new networks, learning about how these groups function, gaining new skills, and better becoming a part of their community.
  Community Door is currently being implemented into the Cradle Coast region of Tasmania in the communities of Wynyard, Sheffield and Smithton. Further outreach of Community Door is now under way with communities which have a Bendigo Bank branch or Community Bank operation.
  Community Door is a way to bring the basic philosophies of Lead On to smaller communities, and is a method of involving more young people with significant community activity.
• The LOOP newspaper supplement has been operating in a number of sites for many years, but is now operating as an outreach program in the Moonee Valley area of metropolitan Melbourne. This is another outreach example which is bringing the Lead On model to more communities, and more outreach programs utilising the LOOP concept are planned for the year ahead.

Friends of Lead On

The Lead On model provides opportunities for older people from the business community to take active roles in mentoring and assisting young people by sharing their business experience. Older people provide their knowledge and young participants meet people who can assist them in their transition into the work place.

This approach sees young people mentored by business and community leaders through real-life projects and activity, and it requires a genuine partnership between the younger and older person. The real-life activity (project) is the basis for the relationship and provides opportunities for the mentor and the young person to work through relevant issues – and is therefore not a ‘contrived’ mentoring approach.

Board Appointments & Retirements

Another important highlight for 2004-05 was appointment to the Lead On Australia board of Mr Michael Galvin and Ms Felicia Carboon. These appointments were in line with our objective to see young people come onto the principal board to assist the future development of the community engagement model.

Felicia and Michael were among the first groups of young people to participate in Lead On projects. Both were formation members of the Lead On Youth Advisory Board in Bendigo and played significant roles in the early success of the Bendigo pilot.

The demonstrated knowledge and affection Felicia and Michael have for Lead On and what it has meant to them (and so many other young people) will make them strong contributors and vital members of our board.

Original board member Mr Eddie Warhurst resigned in October 2004 and we acknowledge Eddie’s commitment and work during the establishment of the Lead On model and his work to bring Lead On to his home town of Mildura.

Lead On Australia & Collaboration

The community sector is one that will always have a shortage of resource and Lead On believes collaboration – or collaborative commerce – is one way to address resource restrictions, by developing community partnerships.

Lead On Australia has created significant partnerships within most communities where it operates. Examples include – partnership with local government youth services, community welfare organisations (such as St Luke’s and Loddon Mallee Housing Services in Bendigo) and many others across Australia. As well as the normal projects for young people within the sector, our broader collaborative approach has seen young people from homeless backgrounds, long-term unemployed backgrounds or other difficult backgrounds, sitting alongside young people who have been more fortunate and working on a project that provides a range of benefits for each of them.

Another good example of collaboration was when Lead On Bendigo recently worked in partnership with CVGT (Central Victoria Group Training) with a group of long-term unemployed young people and, in collaboration, found employment for 8 of the 10 young people. This was a good example of sharing resource and networks to provide improved outcomes – for our young people and for CVGT.

If Lead On is to be an inclusive model that brings together young people from different backgrounds, these partnerships are essential to provide the opportunities for all young people to participate and grow.

Lead On Australia – Funding & Community Support and Ownership

As stated, the Lead On Australia model of integrating a diverse range of young people does not readily fit into traditional government funding programs. While this can present challenges with funding, the Lead On model actually aims to make each Lead On centre community-funded and community-owned.

During the last financial year, many of the Lead On centres moved towards sustainability via community support and partnerships. This model helps ensure accountability and responsibility rest with the local community and partners. For example, Lead On Bendigo, Lead On Echuca/Moama. and Lead On Ipswich all have a range of local partners who invest into their ‘community of the future’ by investing into local Lead On activity. This local investment enables the Lead On model and approach to be more locally driven and more organic – ie – the projects and activity are driven and developed by the local community and give young people the opportunity to contribute and ensure that what happens through Lead On is relevant to their community – not driven by structures in far away places determining what is thought to be relevant to a local community.

As stated, Bendigo Bank is a major supporter and funder of Lead On Australia. The Bank has committed in excess of $350,000 per annum (plus projects and staff involvement) to see Lead On projects carried out – not only through existing Lead On branches, but through outreach programs across Australia.

Bendigo Bank has referred to its involvement as active sponsorship that provides both excellent community outcomes and improved relevance and connection for its business – which assists with its commitment to build healthy, stronger communities in each market in which it operates. The Bank has stated it believes strong, innovative, creative communities – with a strong ability to engage their young people – will be ‘communities of the future’. These communities will be great places for the Bank’s business to be connected to.

Lead On continues to work with Bendigo Bank staff and communities to introduce the Lead On model, and will collaborate in initiatives such as Community Door during the coming year.Lead On Australia appreciates that its partners see Lead On as an investment – not a donation – and understand that building a better community for the future starts by growing and developing young people. A better and stronger community leads to a better and stronger place to conduct business in the future.

The Way Ahead

As Lead On Australia moves into its seventh year of operation, we are proud of its achievements. The numbers of young people who have participated are very impressive – and even more impressive has been the feedback we receive from participants and their families, and the value they place on their involvement and participation in Lead On activities.
Young people credit their Lead On involvement with gaining employment, having the confidence to start their own small business, having a new and positive view of their community – and the more emotional feedback about how participation has helped battle depression, eating disorders or lack of self worth, and has led to their now feeling connected and valued.

Many of our individual centres are now well positioned to become sustainable in their own right during coming years. This is testament to the model and desire for real community investment, ownership, and involvement. The challenge remains with funding Lead On Australia – which provides the framework, support, administration and all development of the model – upon which each site depends. However, we are pleased with our ability to provide strong community dividends and positive outcomes from all projects – and we are confident we have the ability to grow government investment, with additional investment from the broader community, to multiply the effectiveness of Lead On in each community.

To be operating in fifteen communities across Australia – and with opportunities for more communities to be involved through outreach of either the Community Door program or the LOOP newspaper supplement – is an extremely satisfying and rewarding achievement. We will continue to look at innovative ways of engaging young people and working with communities through the Lead On model.

We consider Lead On has much more to offer, but acknowledge we need to build cautiously (if we are to achieve sustainability) and need to secure reliable revenues and financial support (particularly Lead On Australia) for us to pursue expansion of the model. We believe that even implementation of the current range of activities and philosophies is improving each community in which Lead On operates.

We will continue to seek partners prepared to invest in what we do, and to share our vision for young people and communities through the tremendous support and funding provided by a range of participants from all sectors and in each location.

Rob Hunt Chris DeAraugo
Chairman Chief Executive Officer
November 2005