Fireside Chat Recap: Youth Projects with Tom Downie

This week we sat down with Tom Downie, a regional manager at Youth Projects — a Melbourne-based organisation supporting young people across employment, community health, and social enterprise. Tom leads the Transition to Work program across Western Melbourne, working with 15–25 year-olds who are out of school and out of work, helping them find a pathway into education, an apprenticeship, or a job.

Tom got here the long way. He played professional footy from age 10 to 24, and when that career ended he went looking for what came next.

"I realised there's no job made out exactly for me… helping people, social space, where I could be — you know, being extroverted and be a fan of people."

Three years of trying things later, a youth coach role at Youth Projects came up. He's been in the youth services space five years now, mostly on the ground and recently in management. Here's what we learned.

What Youth Projects does in Western Melbourne

A lot. Tom's slice of it is the Transition to Work program under employment services — nine offices across Sunshine, Melton, Werribee, plus outreach sites in St Albans, Point Cook, Woodgrove and Tarneit. Around 2,000 young people across the region on the program at any given time.

Around 85% are referred from Centrelink — young people on a youth allowance or jobseeker payment who are eligible for the program. The other 10–15% sign up voluntarily, as long as they're not in school and not already working. Once they're in, Youth Projects can work with them for up to 18 months.

That's the employment side. Youth Projects also runs community health services, the Living Room primary health centre in Hosier Lane in the city, and six or seven social enterprise cafes — at Wyndham, the Werribee Law Courts, Footscray Hospital, and elsewhere — that give program participants somewhere to work.

What 18 months of coaching actually looks like

The program isn't really about the job. Or rather — the job is the destination, but it's not what the work is.

"16 months out of the 18 months, someone might get a job for the first time. And then of course that's super rewarding… but it's not what you focus on."

Tom described the first few months as small goals: turning up to two appointments in a row. Being reliable. Getting a learner's permit. Getting proper ID so you can put in a job application at all. Confidence-building. Pushing back on the belief that nothing's out there. Coaching that lays the foundation.

"You need someone that's going to be stable and give you guidance and be committed to supporting you."

The hidden support, he called it. The thing that doesn't show up on the program contract but determines whether anything else works.

And once a job lands — the work doesn't stop

The bit a lot of people don't see is what happens after someone gets a job.

"Until you get your first payslip, can I help you with a fuel voucher or something to keep everything going, get you to work?"

Youth Projects has a dedicated in-work support team that stays with a young person for up to six months after they start. The first payslip is two weeks away. The fuel tank is empty now. Wednesday afternoon of the first full-time week is the hardest moment any of us have ever had at work — except now imagine it's your first one ever.

"Day one's done, no, I can't go back tomorrow. And it's like — no, just go back tomorrow. Keep going. Keep going."

The next day. And the day after. By week two there's a payslip, a routine, and a young person who's quietly clocked that they can in fact do this. The empowerment compounds.

Building trust with someone the system has already let down

The hardest part isn't the paperwork. It's getting a young person to believe the next adult they meet will be different from the last one.

"It can be pretty special once you build it… people will come back to the sites and hang out and want to support us in any way they can. That's kind of really the magic of it."

Tom estimates one or two in ten young people walk in ready to trust. Seven or eight fluctuate. One or two are a hard no — and the no is rarely about Youth Projects. It's about Centrelink, school, the last five adults who said they'd show up and didn't. As Tom put it: "it's like a telemarketer called you — like, why should I stay on the line?"

Building trust takes weeks. Soft-cancelling instincts — asking why do you feel that way? — matter more than any qualification. Sharing back what a young person has said, when the heat's down, and letting them hear it. Coming back the sixth time, and being the sixth person who is actually different.

What "good help" looks like

We asked Tom what mobilisers — regular people, no qualifications, who might find themselves working alongside a young person Youth Projects has placed — could actually do.

"Just being curious and empathetic… the smallest actions. The smallest things can go a long way."

A new young person on day one is already in their own head — this sucks, I'm never going to be any good at it. Someone walking past their station and saying "hey, what are you working on?" breaks the cycle. Two days later: "how's your first three days been?" You don't need qualifications. You don't need a programme. You need to take a minute.

"The most minuscule thing you can commit to could be the biggest thing for them. So it's just — anything is better than nothing."

You don't have to be a youth worker. You just have to be the colleague who notices.

How to get involved

• If you're in Melbourne and want to support Youth Projects, start at youthprojects.org.au/get-involved, or drop in to one of their social enterprise cafes at Wyndham, Werribee Law Courts or Footscray Hospital.

• If you're anywhere in Australia and helping a young person who needs services, Ask Izzy is a solid first stop for housing, food, health, and support.

• Stay tuned for more Fireside Chats — coming up next: Micah Projects with Ellie Goharnia on Wednesday 27 May at 12:30 AEST.

Thanks to Tom for the generosity of his time and his story. The young people he and his team work with are lucky to have someone in their corner who knows the difference between focusing on the job and focusing on the person.

This is part of our Fireside Chat series — where we sit down with people running frontline services and ask them directly: what would help?