Quality, Research, & Innovation

Brisbane Youth Service has a strong commitment to evidence-informed practice and collaborative research and evaluation to drive innovation.

Research and Evaluation at BYS

Our research and evaluation centres the voices and experiences of young people and their children.

We actively collaborate and consult with young people, academics, sector partners, and community  to address gaps in knowledge and identify emerging support needs and challenges impacting the wellbeing of young people. We are committed to using evidence to continually improve the effectiveness of our work with young people.

Key Topics

7 Year Data Project
Domestic & Family Violence
Families
Homelessness
Mental Health
Youth Participation

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October 30, 2023

Young People and Mental Health – A 7 Year Demographic Trend Analysis

This report summarises the findings from an analysis of seven years of Brisbane Youth Service’s assessment data on young people’s mental health diagnoses and self-rated mental health on intake. The report compared key demographic factors such as age, gender, cultural identities, sexuality, experience of disability, and parenthood.
October 30, 2023

Gender diverse young people and mental health: 7 year analysis, 2015-2022 Fact Sheet

This factsheet summarises the mental health assessment data for gender diverse young people accessing support from Brisbane Youth Service over the last 7 years.
October 30, 2023

Sexuality diverse young people and mental health 7 year analysis, 2015-2022 Fact Sheet

This factsheet summarises the mental health assessment data for sexuality diverse young people accessing support from Brisbane Youth Service over the last 7 years.
October 30, 2023

Young people with disability and mental health: 7 year analysis, 2015-2022 Fact Sheet

This factsheet summarises the mental health assessment data for young people with disability accessing support from Brisbane Youth Service over the last 7 years.
April 30, 2023

It’s time we turned off the taps. Australia’s children and young people should not be left homeless.

The Federal Government must address Australia’s child and youth homelessness problem. The argument for a National Child and Youth Housing and Homelessness Plan is not new. Many governments have attempted to address homelessness only to leave children and young people as one or two recommendations in an adult-focused strategy. While there have been many child and youth wellbeing strategies nationally (National Mental Health Commission’s National Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy’ for the most recent), they have not adequately addressed the issue of homelessness. The Federal Government has been largely silent on this issue.
April 30, 2023

A National Child and Youth Housing and Homelessness Plan, to Better Address the Complex Support Needs of Young People

Young people with complex support needs face a range of challenges and realities that a standalone National Child and Youth Housing and Homelessness Plan has the opportunity to address. Importantly, a national plan must not interpret homelessness as a ‘standalone issue’ or one that ends when young people are securely housed. Central to any national plan should be recognition of – and solutions to address – the broad range of co-occurring issues that drive and commonly arise as a result of homelessness.
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Innovation

Innovation ensures we continuously develop strategies, tools and programs to enhance the level of support available to vulnerable young people.  Examples of this include:

Cross-Organisational data collection to measure and understand our impact.

Couch-surfing research to address a critical knowledge gaps.

A focus on the intersection of homelessness and violence in recognition of the complexity of working with intimate partner and family violence in a homelessness context.

Youth-led practice informed by our Youth Participation Strategy to ensure young people’s voices and experience guide our work.

Evaluated trials of new programs that enable young people to be diverted from or transition out of the homelessness system.

 

View some of our programs