Reimagining youth policy and education to improve lives of young people

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What does it mean to be young and disadvantaged in Australia? The recently launched Centre for Youth Policy and Education Practice (CYPEP) in the Faculty of Education at Monash University is changing the conversation about young people’s futures.

The CYPEP aims to identify the challenges to, and opportunities for, improved life outcomes for young people today and throughout their lives. The Centre will achieve this by focusing on issues that affect young people, and on developing policy and educational interventions to address youth disadvantage.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the widening economic gaps in society and young people are paying the price. In particular in Australia, young people have been disproportionately affected by the economic downturns and are experiencing the effects of widening social inequality, but are typically politically under-represented. 

Professor Lucas Walsh, Director of the CYPEP, says that the Centre will take a realistic approach to addressing the challenges faced by young people. 

“Thousands of young people have lost work and face limited opportunities in precarious employment affecting their access to adequate housing, food and other necessities. These are pressing challenges that need to be addressed now,” said Professor Walsh. 

“The CYPEP will seek to create and use evidence to navigate a path to solving these societal issues. We aim to determine whether there are factors that disproportionately affect young people, and to explore how better evidence-based policy and practice in education can address youth disadvantage.