Decar College

Decar College will be Australia’s first dedicated school for justice-involved young adults to access university. The aim is to reconnect justice-involved young adults with their potential, their university pathway, and ultimately, with society. The Decar College team is led by people with decades of experience and expertise in youth justice and education.

Decar College will open a senior secondary school (VCE) on a university campus, specifically for learners aged 17-25 whose education has been disrupted by justice involvement, with clear pathways into university.

Decar College is modelled on proven elements from education, reengagement research, counter-trauma pedagogy and tertiary equity schemes. For funders, it delivers on youth justice, equity and social inclusion priorities and provides a scalable pilot with transformative potential.

Funding will be used:

• to fund student engagement and principal and staff recruitment
• to cover set-up costs like school registration, curriculum development, premises, equipment and resources
• to support the school until it becomes self-sustaining
• for scholarships to support students to attend and stay at school

Decar College will open doors that have been closed to justice-involved young adults to prove:

• education, not prison, breaks cycles of disadvantage and unlocks human potential
• with the right support at the right moment, university education is within reach for every academically capable young person and is a shield against future incarceration
• justice-involved young adults can achieve academic and professional success, becoming contributors, not statistics.

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