Youth Worker
What the work is
Assists young people as individuals or groups to solve social, emotional and financial problems in an agency framework.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Interviews and assesses individuals' needs, advises on entitlements and rights, and refers them to agencies and programs that can provide additional assistance
- Provides support, and responds to young people experiencing immediate issues, stress or crisis, such as lack of housing, mental health crises, and other health emergencies
- Empowers young people to achieve goals and steer their life in a positive direction, and engage in meaningful opportunities to enable independent living
- Assists with youth access education programs and training to increase employability
- Organises and supervises social, recreational and educational activities in local youth groups to assist young people to fulfil their potential as individuals, and be actively involved in their local community
- May monitor and report on the progress of individuals
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a youth drop-in centre in a regional town, open after school and on weekends. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A young person who used to sit in the corner now helps run the games night
- Someone you have supported for a year tells you about the course they have enrolled in
- The centre is loud, messy and full of kids who feel at home there
Hard days
- A young person you were making progress with stops turning up
- Setting a firm limit with someone who is already having a rough day
- Finishing a shift knowing some of the kids are going back to a hard evening
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 411733, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.