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Lived Experience Mentoring Project

Supporting multicultural young people to reconnect, rebuild, and thrive beyond the justice system. 

Victoria’s youth justice system is facing a critical challenge: the disproportionate incarceration of young people from Pasifika and African-Australian backgrounds. These communities, while representing a small fraction of the general population, make up a significant majority of youth in custody. 

Many of these young people are navigating complex identities and experiences of intergenerational trauma, cultural disconnection, and systemic disadvantage. Without the right support, they can become caught in cycles of offending and incarceration. 

The Lived Experience Mentoring Project is a 12-month pilot initiative delivered by CMY in partnership with Department of Justice & Community Safety. This project takes a culturally grounded, community-led approach, centering the voices and lived experiences of those who have walked similar paths. 

Through intensive one-on-one mentoring and case management, the Lived Experience Mentoring Project: 

  • Recruits and prepares bicultural mentors with lived experience of the justice system. 
  • Engages young people from Pasifika and African-Australian backgrounds. 
  • Provides regular mentoring and ongoing tailored support for the young person and their family.
  • Operates across Melton, Brimbank, Wyndham, Greater Dandenong, Casey, and Hume. 

The program aims to reduce youth engagement with the justice system, foster positive identity and resilience, and strengthen connections to family, culture, and community.

Contact

If you would like to know more about the project, please contact:

Gene Bell | Program Team Leader
E | gbell@cmy.net.au
M | 0432 179 816