Pasifika young people and their families in the west have access to more support with $400,000 in funding for two programs providing early interventions and mentoring programs for young people.

The initiatives takes a strengths-based community approach prominent in Pasifika villages to engage key community members and strengthen the capacity of families, organisations and the broader community to support Pasifika young people.

The Victorian Government invested $200,000 towards the Village Response Plan to support young people who may be at risk of becoming involved in the justice system and to provide more holistic supports for young people already in the justice system, as well as delivering  community strengthening and engagement activities.

This builds on an additional investment of $200,000 for the Pasifika Thrive program, which provides direct support to young people in partnership with local schools and builds capacity of local organisations to better support young people from Pasifika backgrounds.

A local Pasifika organisation, Charis Mentoring (External link) has brought together a range of stakeholders to deliver the community-led initiatives for Pasifika young people.

These initiatives are an example of how government can partner with communities and invest in local innovation to provide the right support for young people and create positive outcomes for the community

The initiatives complement existing Community Crime Prevention Programs supporting young people in the area, such as the Youth Umbrella Project in Brimbank, which aims to increase resilience and build on the strengths of young people from Pasifika and African backgrounds.