Research and Reports

In 2011 the Department for Communities commissioned Miriam Brooker to prepare a report on youth mentoring as an intervention for disengaged young people. This report explores the intersection between youth mentoring and youth disengagement from education, with a view to identifying areas where youth mentoring works well with identified groups of disengaged young people, as well as areas where further research would be useful.

YMCA Perth Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Department for Communities Partnership Project

In partnership with the Department for Communities, YMCA Big Brothers Big Sisters increased the participation of a priority group of young people; those with a disability, mental health concerns and those who are young carers.

Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Department for Communities Better Mentoring Project

In partnership with the Department for Communities, YMCA Big Brothers Big Sisters conducted the ‘Better Mentoring’ project. This 12 month project aimed to develop a ‘best practice’ model for the delivery of Group Mentoring programs to young people.

Research Synthesis Report: Youth mentoring  

This research synthesis provides a rigorous analysis of the key elements of effective youth mentoring programs. The report considers national and international evidence on the value for investment and identifies evidence regarding the social and economic benefits for youth of quality one-to-one relationship based mentoring. The report was prepared by AHURI's Research Synthesis Service in November 2011.

Connecting for Careers: The iTrack Youth Mentoring Program

iTrack is an online mentoring program focusing on the school to work transition. It aims to provide students with opportunities to develop appropriate relationships with supportive adults other than a teacher or parent, and to provide information to students about workplace, study and career opportunities. This report written in 2007, by The Smith Family, tracks the progress and outcomes of two sets of iTrack students: the first with access to face-to-face meetings with their mentor, and the second undertaking a purely online relationship. The findings suggest that students who do not participate in face-to-face meetings with their mentors during the program do not appear to be disadvantaged by this in terms of their skill development gained through the program. 

Australian Youth Mentoring Benchmarks

The Australian Youth Mentoring Benchmarks were created in 2000 to provide a standard for all mentoring programs in order to have a strong, successful and sustainable program. The Australian Youth Mentoring Network encourages all mentoring programs to achieve these standards through the sharing of resources, professional development and collegial networking. The Benchmarks were reviewed in 2007 and again in 2012. The Australian Youth Mentoring Benchmarks provide a standard for mentoring programs in order to have a strong, successful and sustainable program.

Literature Review into Aboriginal Mentoring

This is a literature review produced for the Department of Training and Workforce Development on best practice in mentoring Aboriginal people in the workforce.

Key Findings of the Literature on Effective Mentoring Programs for Young People

This literature review was prepared by the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in September 2012. True Blue Dreaming, based in Western Australia, requested an in depth examination of the empirical research, both international and Australian, that has emerged over the last 25 years. The evidence from the literature establishes clear benchmarks for effective mentoring programs for young people.

Peer-based youth programs are diverse and include peer education, peer mentoring and peer support. Their common feature is the active participation and involvement of peers to enhance well-being and influence positive development among young people.

The Aboriginal Workforce Development Centre has produced a range of mentoring resources that can be used for mentoring with young Aboriginal people.