For young people facing disadvantage, their first job is often their most important one. Paid work lets young people to feel included in the wider workforce and find the courage and agency to combat economic disadvantage. It also provides them with an income to directly address poverty. As well as being fair, this is why ...
Dismantle
Supported employment for at-risk young people

GOAL
$15,000
Field of Interest
- Civic engagement and leadership
- Community and economic development
Target Population
- People experiencing socio-economic disadvantage or vulnerability
- Young people (6-25)

Dismantle exists to dismantle disadvantage by supporting young Western Australians who are at risk of long-term unemployment. We believe that a hand-up works better for tackling inequality than a hand-out. We know that with the right supports and the right work, young people find opportunties to end cycles of poverty, trauma and disadvantage. We embody this through our values of Empowerment, Longevity, Diversty, Impact and Collaboration.
Each year we help over 300 young people, of whom 68% experience poverty, 53% have a history of abuse or trauma, and 53% have mental health concerns. We provide them with mentoring support in our BikeRescue program, and award-rate employment with ReNew Property Maintenance. All ReNew Youth Employees also receive 1-on-1 in-house case management with JobReadii to overcome personal hurdles take steps towards education or employment. 2023 saw 9 young people successfully transition into competitive employment and 8 into an apprenticeship or full-time study.
This diverse cohort overcame complex challenges such as diagnosed disabilities, unstable housing, and no history of employment, and included 2 beneficiaries from CALD and 3 from ATSI backgrounds. This success is a snapshot of the 42 at-risk young people Dismantle has transitioned into better opportunities since 2019. While a huge achievement that has made a world of difference for those young people, we have further to go to reach our vision of supporting 1000 at-risk young people into employment by 2030.
Project Summary
For young people facing disadvantage, their first job is often their most important one. Paid work lets young people to feel included in the wider workforce and find the courage and agency to combat economic disadvantage. It also provides them with an income to directly address poverty. As well as being fair, this is why we pay award-rate wages, even for trial shifts. This project will expand our trial shift capacity to include more at-risk young people and prepare them better for the workplace.
Currently, we recruit and offer trial shifts once a position becomes available. However, we receive more applications and interest than we have positions. The project will widen our pool of trial shifts available to young people, giving them a shot at paid work when they’re ready for it. Paid trial shifts will also provide access to JobReadii for individualised case-management, to get them ready for work and to help with personal hurdles and risk factors and to link them with suitable services. Once shift availabilities open up, instead of recruiting, we can immediately allocate inducted, trained employees from the trial-shifts pool.
Overall, the project will accelerate the number of applicants into work, pay them a living wage, give them full case-management access, and train them in preparation for a Youth Employee position.
Project Outcomes
The expected outcomes of this project are to provide 60 paid shifts over 2025, each with 1-on-1 case-management sessions. It is anticipated that this will cover the trial shifts for 15 new Youth Employees. The expected outcomes of this project include:
- Award-rate wages to directly tackle economic inequality.
Inclusion
- We employ young people who need it, rather than for their experience or qualifications.
- We have partnerships with Aboriginal Community Organisations and recruitment agencies to employ youth released from the justice system, 76% of whom have ATSI heritage.
- We have KPIs to employ an additional 10 recent migrants by mid-2025.
Agency
- A basic income means more choices - accommodation, food, transportation, lifestyle, access to supports.
- Case-managers help with documentation, crisis relief, and inductions for work-readiness.
Courage
- Earning, teamwork, and upskilling inspires self-confidence.
- Case-management assists with personal struggles – including mental health, financial literacy, trauma, alcohol and other drugs – building courage to tackle life’s challenges.
- Trial shifts train and prepare youth employees, giving them confidence for their first shifts.
Fairness
- Opportunities are not evenly distributed. Supported employment helps to close some of these gaps.
- Risk factors can cause high rates of absenteeism. Rather than penalising, we see these moments as opportunities to build resilience and employability.
- The volatile life circumstances that affect disadvantaged youth present few windows of opportunity. By offering trial shifts, we can engage at-risk young people when they’re ready, and crucially, keep them engaged.
Budget Breakdown
TOTAL BUDGET: $28,500
FUNDING
Funding source | Amount |
---|---|
Internal budget (trade and funding revenue mix) (confirmed) | $13,500 |
Funding gap (unconfirmed) | $15,000 |
EXPENSES
Expense item | Amount |
---|---|
60 x 8-hour trial shifts | $15,000 |
15 x inductions packs (PPE, documentation, medical, crisis support, transport, training, tickets) | $7,500 |
Case-manager wages ($50/hour x 2 hours x 60 shifts) | $6,000 |
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