The outstanding achievements of young people and people in the youth sector were recently celebrated at the 2024 WA Youth Awards Ceremony.
Casey Moller (Community Engagement Officer, headspace Midland) and Joey Dijkstra (headspace Albany Committee member, and headspace National Youth Reference Group Member) were finalists in this year’s awards, in recognition of their impact and influence.
We were thrilled to see Casey win the Minister for Youth’s Most Outstanding Youth Worker, which celebrates the efforts of WA’s dedicated youth workers, whose passion and dedication changes lives.
Through her work, Casey consistently delivers improved outcomes for young people. She constantly strives to create a platform for them to be heard, working with them, not for them – creating opportunities for them to build their skills, amplify their voices, shape and inform services, and support their peers within the community.
Casey is an advocate for young people to be involved in every aspect of what we do at headspace Midland and at Youth Focus more broadly, along every step and, every stage of the journey. She creates opportunities for them to share their perspectives, experience and expertise, with our staff, decision-makers, and the wider community to ensure this knowledge is not just heard but acted upon.
Casey says, “Being named a finalist was already such a profound moment for me, and to actually receive this prestigious award feels truly amazing! This recognition goes beyond a personal or professional achievement; it reflects the collective efforts of so many incredible individuals who have supported and inspired me to become the Youth Worker I am today.”
Matt Wilson, Centre Manager for headspace Midland and Northam, said, “Casey is the greatest example of what youth work and community engagement services for young people can achieve in supporting and garnering positive outcomes for young people across all aspects of their health, well-being and development.”
We were also incredibly proud of Joey, finalist in the ECU Community Leadership Award – recognition for their advocacy for inclusive and accessible mental health support in regional and rural areas.
Youth Focus once again sponsored the Sector Collaboration Award, which was won by Ishar Multicultural Women’s Health Services for their transformative project that addressed unmet health education and service needs for young women in the CALD community from metropolitan Perth.
Youth Focus Corporate Communications Manager, Cherie Hardingham-Braid, represented Youth Focus as one of the judges for this award category. According to Cherie, the category was a competitive one, with a range of impressive programs and initiatives that showcased how collaboration can create positive change.
Cherie said, “Ishar Multicultural Women’s Health Services was an outstanding example of a project that was developed, delivered and evaluated in partnership with the young people, their families, and the service providers they collaborate with.
The project has not only had a huge impact on the young women and their families who have been involved, but also informed and educated the many government and not-for-profit service providers that Ishar Multicultural Women’s Health Services work collaboratively with to understand, develop and deliver services in a way that works best for CALD young women.”
The stories of finalists and award-winners throughout the ceremony were inspirational, and displayed a shared passion and commitment to bringing positive change for young people now and into the future.
The WA Youth Awards were established in 1999 to ensure that WA young people receive recognition and reward for achievements and contributions to the community, and this year marked the 25th anniversary of these special awards. The Youth Affairs Council WA (YACWA) delivers the event, with support from the Department of Communities and Lotterywest.