Application Details

Who can apply:

Selection of all participants is rigorous. Offering an Applicant a place in a specific Programme is based on creating a group of participants that will, in our experience, give each individual in the group the greatest opportunity for development. Each Programme is single sex, with a maximum of 10 participants.

Criteria for Selection:

There are several primary criteria used in the selection of participants:

• Applicants should be aged between 16 and 24 years.
• Applicants need a reasonable level of physical health and fitness - appropriate for the 3 day “walk-in” and work stages of the Wilderness Experience. All medical issues must be disclosed in Application.
• Applicants must be able to self manage and administer any prescribed medication.
• Applicants with backgrounds of drugs and alcohol abuse must no longer be “using”.
• Applicants must have a non-violent and non-psychiatric background.
• Applicants must be available and committed to participate in all three phases of one Programme. This means the applicant will be free of school, work or family commitments for the Programme’s residential components – the Wilderness and Kurrajong Phases. This is one of the written contractual agreements between the participant and the Trust, made prior to participation.
• Applicants must be able to pre-pay costs of travel from their home to Roma in Central Qld; from Roma to Brisbane and then from Brisbane to home.
• Based on the initial application and interview, most participants should ideally be considered as having a readiness to make some change to their lives, but have circumstances that make this difficult. (We emphasise, however, that this is not rigidly applied and nor should it be). Circumstances may include vocational confusion, decreased motivation, poor self-esteem, isolation, chronic unemployment, school failure or difficulties, family breakdown, drug and alcohol abuse histories or other forms of abuse/neglect.

Costs of the Programme:

Financial Sponsorship

The Trust provides part and full scholarships to cover the full cost of the three-Phase Programme for young people who otherwise could not participate.

This does not include:

• cost of travel from the participant's home to Roma, in Central Qld for the start of the Wilderness Phase;
• cost of travel from Roma to Brisbane after the Wilderness Phase
• cost of travel from Beenleigh, in South East Qld to the participant's home after the Kurrajong Phase.
• Applicants are required to include a cheque or postal note for $100, with the completed Application Form. This covers the cost of the return bus fare (booked on participant’s behalf by YET) from Brisbane to Roma and from Roma to Brisbane. Should an Applicant be considered as not appropriate for a Programme, this money will be refunded.
• All three of above costs are the responsibility of the participant or their sponsoring agency.
• Agencies, youth organisations and schools that are in a position to partly sponsor applicants, are asked to make a contribution towards the cost of offering YET Programmes.

Self Funding Participants

By invitation, young people, either at their own expense or through sponsorship, are selected for participation in the programme at a cost of $5000 plus cost of travel - as described above.

What Participants need to bring:

When a place on a Programme has been accepted, the Trust will provide a list of the essential clothing and personal effects that Participants need to bring, such as appropriate clothing, personal toiletries and prescribed medications. The Trust provides basic outdoor gear including back-packs, sleeping bags, walking boots and raincoats. No special clothing requirements are needed for the Kurrajong Phase.

Transport Arrangements

Participants are normally responsible for arranging the transport from their home to Roma at the start of the Programme - and from Brisbane to the participant’s home at the end. If travelling to Roma from Brisbane, YET can arrange (but not pay for) return travel.

Participants are transported by YET staff from Roma to Saddler Springs on day 1 of the Wilderness Phase, and at the end of the Wilderness Phase, returned to Roma for the bus trip to Brisbane. YET staff meet participants off the bus in Brisbane and take them directly to Woodstock for the Kurrajong Phase. Participants are returned to Beenleigh or Brisbane at the end of the Kurrajong Phase.

Refer to the earlier “Costs of Programme” section for responsibilities for costs. YET endeavours to negotiate a discounted fare for participants to travel by bus for the Programme eg return fare for Brisbane to Roma is ~$100.

More travel information will be given when an offer for Programme placement is made.

Safety Procedures

Conducting safe Programmes is the first priority. A high staff to participant ratio is maintained particularly for the Wilderness Experience. Lead staff have Wilderness First Aid training and in the event of accident, Saddler Springs has been fully resourced with a customised Procedures and Safety Manual, first aid kits (both the manual and kits prepared professionally by Wilderness First Aid consultants), two-way radio system, satellite phone and back up Royal Flying Doctor Service. Appropriate safeguards are employed in other phases of the Programme.

Staffing

Lead staff are of the highest calibre and have a special combination of practical skills and expertise necessary for conducting the Programme. Staff display a deep commitment to young people from diverse backgrounds. They have special training and a genuine understanding of the environmental and cultural heritage of this remote part of the Carnarvon Ranges where the Wilderness Experience takes place. Staff are trained in wilderness/bush/community programmes and have demonstrated a personal commitment to work of this kind. Participant supervision and safety management are paramount considerations of each Programme. Both male and female staff are present on each Programme.

How to Apply

Please check your eligibility (or the person you propose to refer to us) against our criteria in the earlier "Who can Apply" section - and if you meet them, we can then forward the necessary forms for your completion and return.

Due to the nature of the Programme, our Application Forms are quite comprehensive, and making an Application does not guarantee the Participant will be offered a place on a Programme – applications are assessed before places are offered for a specific Programme.

The Application Form includes the dates of Programmes for this current year, and you will need to indicate your preferred Programme/s. Our Community Liaison Officer can clarify the application processes and assist with other participant enquiries - contact details are on the cover.

An Advocate/ Support Role
A note to agency referrers & parents:

Each young person applying for this Programme benefits from having an ‘Advocate’, ie an adult who will accept the responsibility to support him/her through all the steps in applying for this Programme, ie from completing the Application Form to organising clothing for the bush and transport to meet YET at the busstop on day one.

The Application Form asks for contact details for adults who are associated with the Applicant. One contact must include details of the adult nominated by the young person for the role of Advocate, and this person must understand and accept the responsibilities of this role.

The Advocate is an adult who has a true appreciation of the young person’s situation and is sensitive to the issues he/she finds challenging in life. The young person must feel comfortable in disclosing information to the Advocate such as health and drug histories.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF BEING AN ADVOCATE:

• Applicant Understanding. Ensure the Applicant understands that the Programme is carefully structured, not designed as a ‘fun, adventure camp’, it will be challenging both physically and emotionally, there is no personal or phone contact with friends of relations and that there is no option but to participate fully from start to Graduation, that the Applicant has demonstrated a readiness to make positive life and or vocational changes.
• Application Form. Assist the Applicant as he/she completes the Application Form. The form is comprehensive and some young people return an incomplete form which cannot be corrected and considered in time for the Programme of their preference.
• Doctor. Check that the Applicant has fully addressed every question, that his/her Tetanus inoculation is up to date and that if he/she has answered ‘yes’ to any question on the ‘Medical Questionnaire’, that they take the form to the Doctor to complete the ‘Medical Section’.
• Advocate Report. The Advocate answers the questions on page 7 of the YET Application Form. This provides a valuable insight into the key issues and concerns for this young person.
• Liaison. The Advocate keeps in regular contact with the Applicant – from filling out the Application Form together, to phoning or arranging regular visits, keeping them motivated, and notifying YET of any changes to address or phone or concerns which may affect participation on the Programme. YET does not have the resources to phone around and track down Applicants who are difficult to contact.
• Transport and Clothing. When Applicants are offered a place on a Programme, they receive transport and details of ‘what to bring’. The Advocate helps in organising clothing suitable for the bush, and transport to the Brisbane Transit Centre at 6.30 am on the first day of the Programme.

© Copyright Youth Enterprise Ltd | Disclaimer | Privacy Statement | Child Protection Policy