It’s been a big year! And as we learn to live with the COVID pandemic, one thing has been clearer than ever – the work of the Y in standing with and for young people has never been more important.

While continued disruptions have taken a toll on our staff, communities and the young people we exist for, the pandemic also provided us with new opportunity to take stock of who we are, what we stand for, and how we should focus our collective effort moving forward.

As we have continued to work together across the Y, and with our partners and communities, we have reminded ourselves of our ‘secret sauce’ – the attributes make us uniquely capable of supporting young people in the face of some of our world’s most pressing challenges:

• Our DNA of standing with and for young people – over the last 170+ years in Australia, we have existed to support young people and our communities.
• Our deep connection to local – community is at the heart of everything we do, working hand-in-hand with our local communities to help resolve community problems.
• Our national scale – our powerful national footprint spans 650 communities in Australia, in every state and territory.
• Our global influence – we have international reach, as a global movement across 120 countries, 12,000 communities and 65+ million people.
• Our unique systems perspective – we have unparalleled expertise in how to support children and young people from the earliest of ages, throughout their life journey, through our wide range of programs and services, and extensive footprint.

This year’s Community Impact Report offers insights into the Y – what we do and where we are headed. It shares some of the great work already underway in respect to our four pillars of action and celebrates the achievements of our amazing Y people.
See our 2022 Community Impact report here.