Somehow we have to stop the cycle … We have to stop the scattergun approach … We need to integrate services more. Often things may seem to be micro, but they work. It’s the one to one relationship.

Case study interview

In 2008 the then Ministerial Taskforce on Aboriginal Affairs established the Victorian Aboriginal Economic Development (VAED) Group to advise the Taskforce on ways to improve economic outcomes for Indigenous Victorians. The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) was engaged by the Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD) in May 2009 to conduct the Indigenous Youth Transitions research project to contribute to that advice.

The project objectives were to identify common factors underpinning the programs that have demonstrated success, and suggest ways in which Victoria could replicate these successes more generally across the state. The research aimed to identify programs that demonstrated successful outcomes in their objectives to:

• re-engage Indigenous young people in education, training and/or employment.

• increase enrolment and improve retention and achievement in tertiary (VET and university) education by Indigenous young people

• provide supported pathways for Indigenous young people from education through to sustainable employment.