Winner
Outstanding Achievement in Youth Participation Award
Recognise, celebrate, promote and reward outstanding practice in working with young people in the ACT and surrounding area.
Congratulations to all the outstanding nominees and winners of the Annual YOGIE Awards 2025!
The YOGIES highlight the exceptional commitment, talent and innovation that exist in the youth sector.
In 2025, we are celebrating 22 years of the Yogies.
Awards are presented in 8 categories that recognise the work of groups and individuals, with young people, workers, individuals, programs and services invited to provide nominations. This year, an additional special award, the ACT Children and Young People Commissioner’s Award will recognise a young person under 25 who demonstrates strong commitment to social justice and children and young people’s rights, with the winner selected by the Children and Young People Commissioner.
A judging panel, comprised of a representative from the Youth Coalition; a representative from the Community Services Directorate; and a representative from the youth and community sector, determines the Award winners.
A commendation may be awarded when a nomination has been received that the judging panel believe deserves recognition.
Nominate an organisation, service, program, project or individual in one of eight YOGIE Award categories
1.
Outstanding Achievement in Youth Participation Award
2.
3.
Excellence in Implementation of Evidence Informed Practice
Individual Awards
4.
Outstanding Youth Worker Award
5.
Youth Work Champion
6.
Outstanding New Talent Award
7.
Lifetime Achievement Award
8.
Outstanding Contribution to Young People Award
Special Award
9.
ACT Children and Young People Commissioner’s Award
How to Nominate
1. Read over the different award categories and choose which one best suits your nomination.
2. Read all the criteria and requirements the judges will consider within the nomination category before you starting the nomination process.
3. Need some inspiration? Check out the YOGIES honour roll below for previous winner profiles.
4. Fill out and submit the online nomination form.
Luke Ferguson is a youth support worker at the Woden School, a school that caters for the functional needs of students with disabilities.
Zakia is the regional managing director of the Multicultural Hub Canberra & Regional NSW, managing multiple teams and supporting young people at M.Hub in Civic.
Project manager for the Safe and Connected Youth Integrated Service Response, Morgan has worked in the Community Services Directorate since 2007.
Nicole has almost 30 years experience working in the ACT Youth Sector and is currently the coordinator of Canberra Youth Residential Service (CYRS).
Taylor is a new Youth Worker with the Junction Youth Health Service. Taylor’s role includes crisis support, outreach, case management, group facilitation, and social support.
Dr Louise Stone is a General Practitioner who has worked at The Junction Youth Health Service for about one year.
A group of community sector services, peaks and legal and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations that came together to push for raising the age of criminal responsibility in the ACT.
Got Your Back is a group for young people (aged 12-25) impacted by domestic and family violence (DFV).
Taylor is a new Youth Worker with the Junction Youth Health Service. Taylor’s role includes crisis support, outreach, case management, group facilitation, and social support.
During Sasha’s short eight months since joining the youth sector, her unique skillset in visual arts, music, and tutoring has allowed her to continuously develop and facilitate opportunities for young people to gain skills, increase self-efficacy and develop creatively.
Run in collaboration between Barnardos Australia, Northside Community Services and Multicultural Hub Canberra, Gunners Place provides a centrally located safe space for the young people of Gungahlin to drop in and access supports and information.
Canberra PCYC’s Cruisin’ Cafe is a social enterprise designed to give vulnerable young people supported employment opportunities.
Sophie Trevitt is a solicitor, campaigner and advocate for reforming the justice system. She has extensive experience of campaigning, media and communications and working for
Jayson has been a youth worker in the ACT for over 17 years, beginning his career at Youth In The City in 2003, transitioning and
Josh White is the Youth Engagement Coordinator for Capital Region Community Services. Josh leads a team of six youth workers, whilst providing support for other
Luke Tarlington is the Mentoring Coordinator for the Take Hold Program. He co-runs the mentoring and living skills programs and provides case management for mentor
Annie-Lea is a youth worker with the YWCA team. Over her six years working in the youth sector, Annie has demonstrated a commitment to supporting
Hamish has held several roles within the Conflict Resolution Service, including Family Support Coordinator, Program Manager Family Support Program and more recently he has taken
Michael has been a dedicated volunteer to many organisations including Anglicare, Vinnies, the Salvation Army and various churches. Michael’s dedication to the community and youth
Ronny Kareni is a special person for many reasons – several years living as a refugee and asylum seeker in Papua New Guinea have embedded
Lisa is a case manager for the Anglicare CYCLOPS young carers program. She has demonstrated commitment to young people by organising a young carers group
Next Step program provides free psychological interventions to young people with mild to severe symptoms of a mental health condition, delivered in partnership with CatholicCare,
There have been many challenges in 2020, and the Careers Department team have rapidly adjusted to new modes of connecting to students, quickly upskilling and
The Safe & Connected Youth Program is designed and targeted to address a known service gap in the ACT with underservicing and lack of support
The SRC program is an empowering and engaging approach to connecting identifying and nonidentifying students to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, in a meaningful
Young people participated in workshops over twelve months in which they discussed family violence, gender roles and hopes and messages about respectful relationships.These were opportunities
Gugan Gulwan is an Aboriginal youth centre located in the ACT suburb of Wanniassa. It works with its clients through a range of programs that
Anet has been working in the sector for 26 years, yet remains humble, passionate and empathetic in her work. Anet’s passion for supporting young people
Ciara continually strives to see the best in every situation, they are silver lining royalty! If only 3 young people turn up to a program
Zakia has created a thriving Youth Space (opened 28 Feb), with more than 900 visits to date (only open on two days per week), from
Cindylee embodies and demonstrates the characteristic qualities of an Outstanding Youth Worker. Cindylee demonstrates time and time again of her passion and commitment to young
Janine has been involved in the industry for over 5 years, both studying and in the workforce. Janine brings a lifetime of knowledge to her
Tara began casual work in the ACT Youth Sector in November 2017, then took up a full time role after graduating in June 2018. Since
Geoff is new to the youth sector and in particular working in a drop-in centre environment. Geoff has been a youth worker with YMCA Canberra
Every night, around 116,000 Australians sleep without a roof over their head, with ACT reporting the second-highest rate of homelessness in the country in recent
The GET program is an early intervention program which aims to help young women build positive self-esteem and self-image, foster resilience, improve emotional and physical
Party Down Productions (PDP) is based at The Woden School (TWS) and is run by young people with disability aged 12 -18 years. PDP is
Across Term 1 and 2, 2019 the YWCA Canberra Youth Engagement Team worked with Calwell High School to develop a weekly LGBTQIA psychosocial group within
Trevor Preston is a youth support officer at Lyneham High School, and is a qualified youth worker and librarian. He is committed to the development
James Small is a Youth Support Worker at Belconnen Community Service. Despite being new to the sector, James is a man in demand; with his
Mari Benson is a Youth Worker at Barnardos ACT Together. She has been working in Out of Home Care for the last 5 years, but
The Canberra PCYC Adventure program is an early intervention program for vulnerable young people who are disengaged from education, engaged in anti-social behaviour, and are
‘What’s Your Reality: A Journey Through Virtual Worlds’ is a free program delivered by YWCA Canberra Clubhouse & ACT Parks and Conservation Service. The mission
Belconnen Community Service Youth Engagement has a history of effectively involving young people in their service design. 2018 has seen this become more integrated and
Bryan Duke began working in the homelessness sector in the mid 1990’s, running a soup kitchen in the old Griffin Centre, and in the youth
Susan Pellegrino has been involved in the youth sector over a number of years, and is a long term supporter and collaborator of the work
Adam Shirley is the ‘Mornings’ presenter on ABC Radio Canberra, and Ainslie Macgibbon is a journalist and part of the production team for ‘Mornings with
Joshua White is a youth worker at Kingsford Smith School, and for Josh, the students at his school always come first. He approaches students with
Jessica Cristallo is a youth worker and support worker at Canberra PCYC. She was training to be a teacher, then entered the youth sector after
Ben Shippard is a volunteer with headspace Canberra. He has been on the headspace Youth Reference Group for the last four years, and volunteers 2-3
Hayden Page is the Team Leader of the Youth Engagement Team based at Woden Youth Centre. He is a welcoming personality to every young person
Families ACT are the peak body which aims to represent the interests of children, young people and families and the continuum of services which support
Fiona MacGregor has been a powerhouse of the community sector for many years, having a crucial role in the development of the current service system
Fox has been a volunteer for the headspace Canberra Youth Reference Group for the last 3 years. During this time Fox has been an advocate
The Anglicare Youth Engagement Program (YEP) provides an alternative education support model for young people aged 14-19 years of age who have become disengaged from
Liv started with Anglicare in March 2017 working as a Youth Worker in two programs, The Junction Youth Health Service and Y-Engage. As a Youth
As the Leader of Youth Engagement Team at Belconnen Community Service, Daniel has showed a relentless dedication to the young people that engage in the
Rhonda, or Kanga as she is known to Girl Guides across the ACT/NSW, is a fantastic role model to the girls and young women she
Jeremy is considered by his peers to be truly spectacular youth worker and all around nice guy, who does all within his power to help
Richie Unga is a Youth Outreach Worker at St John’s YouthCare Canberra. He has worked in the community sector for 8 years, having previously worked
In 2017, the 360 initiative launched its non-binary clothing line. The idea arose as young people in the YWCA Canberra A-Z Group identified that a
The Intensive Diversion Program (IDP) works with young people aged 12-16 years who are at high risk of offending behaviour, and are engaged with either
The Research to Practice Series has been published since 2013, with 18 issues published and freely available to anyone who wishes to access them. The
The YWCA’s LGBTQIA* and Allies Prom commenced in 2016 in response to a call from young people for more social events for gender and sexually
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The Youth Coalition of the ACT
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