Current projects
If you would like further information on any of the projects below, please contact us at [email protected].
Yotes in schools project work
Supported by RACV, Orygen launched a trial of the Youth Online Training and Employment System (YOTES) in schools in May 2023, to support young people attending Berry Street School, an independent specialist secondary school with campuses in Ballarat, Morwell, Narre Warren and Shepparton.
YOTES combines evidence-based career content with the latest innovation in digital solutions to deliver interactive career information and support to users. YOTES in Schools is designed to increase the capacity of school-based career teams to support students by providing information on a range of career opportunities in both the local area and further afield.
To further integrate YOTES into the school community, Orygen employees collaborate online with school staff and regularly attend campuses to provide training and support to teachers, participate in classroom activities and provide one-on-one guidance to young people. This trial aims to understand how digitally-enhanced services work in education settings through a variety of quantitative and qualitative measures including aspects such as usability, access and uptake of careers curriculums and student career knowledge.
International Student Mental Health COVID-19 Response Project
The Victorian State Government funded Orygen to deliver an International Student Mental Health and Wellbeing COVID-19 Response Project offering the following components:
- Support to counselling and wellbeing staff working in the education sector across Victoria through a mental health advice line.
- Group peer work supervision to international student peer workers employed by education providers across Victoria.
- Moderated online clinical support to international students accessing clinical youth mental health support services throughout Victoria via the MOST digital platform.
International Student Peer Work training program
Orygen received funding from Study Melbourne to develop and deliver introductory peer work training designed specifically for international students. Orygen will pilot the introductory peer work training package with 40 international students who identify as having lived experience of mental ill health to develop the basic skills and understanding needed to support other international students.
Students completing peer work training will develop an understanding of how to share their lived experience of mental ill health with other international student’s while developing employability skills for the emerging peer workforce.
VTAC Education Transition Project
Orygen have partnered with the Victoria Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) to explore the impact of mental ill-health on the completion of secondary school and admission to post-secondary education. Researchers will examine issues such as the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of Victorian school leavers applying for university or higher education.
Orygen will use the findings from the project to understand the proportion and distribution of mental ill-health among Victorian students and its impact on their educational outcomes. This understanding will inform the design and development of future programs and support.
Youth Peer Work
Orygen is building capacity to provide training, supervision and support to youth peer workers and their organisations across Australia. Orygen has introduced a wide range of peer work programs across our organisation including vocational peer workers, digital peer moderators, peer workers, peer educators, peer researchers, in-patient peer workers and family peer workers.
If you would like further information on any of the projects above, please contact us at [email protected].
International student wellbeing project
Study Melbourne, a Victorian Government initiative, has provided funding for Orygen to introduce international student mental health peer workers to the education sector. This project seeks to implement international student mental health peer work into education settings, bringing their unique experience of moving to Australia to study combined with lived experience of mental ill health to enhance education provider support for international students.