Youth in crisis

It is a fact that many young indigenous people in Australia today are caught up in an education, training and employment crisis. Thousands of indigenous youngsters each year do not complete their schooling, undertake training or find jobs, which in turn leads to a continuous cycle of social and economic disadvantage.

The statistics¹ speak for themselves:

Only 46.5 per cent of indigenous students stay in school until Year 12, compared to 75.6 per cent of non indigenous students.
Just 37.3 per cent of young indigenous Australians take part in post school employment, education or training, compared to 73.4 per cent of non indigenous young people of the same age.
A quarter of all young indigenous Australians (25.4 per cent) are unemployed compared to 8.9 per cent of non indigenous Australians.

Many factors contribute to this situation. Two major reasons are a poor history of education and training among indigenous youngsters; and a lack of positive role models within their communities.

At Ganbina, we know that there is no quick fix solution to this problem. But we know that our programs can - and do - make a very real difference to this picture.

The results? Meaningful employment, financial independence, personal fulfilment and a desire to help others within their communities to change the status quo.

¹ COAG Reform Council, National Indigenous Reform Agreement: Baseline performance report for 2008-09, released 20 April 2010.

> Ganbina participant stories

"Ganbina helps you believe in tomorrow. They always found a way and a means to help me look forward to the future."

Ganbina participant