By Lizzie Macaulay
There’s a stereotype that gets thrown around a lot when it comes to young people. You’ve probably heard it. They don’t want to work. They’re not motivated. They’d rather be on their phones than do anything productive. It’s a narrative I’ve heard more times than I can count, and I can tell you with absolute confidence that it’s rubbish. With this edition’s theme of ‘youth’ in mind, I wanted to understand what’s really going on with our region’s young people. Not the headlines. Not the hot takes. The actual story. So I headed to PCYC Hervey Bay to sit down with Sergeant Leigh Nancarrow, Youth Club Program Manager, and Tayla Houliston, Get Set for Work Program Coordinator, to find out what happens when young people are given the right opportunity at the right time.
Get Set for Work is a 10-week program funded through the Queensland Government’s Skilling Queenslanders for Work initiative, and it’s been running at PCYC Hervey Bay since 2019. Every year, 40 young people aged 15 to 19 are given the opportunity to gain real skills, real qualifications and real confidence through a program that treats them not as problems to be fixed, but as capable people who just need a different door to walk through. And walk through it they do. Voluntarily.
That’s one of the first things that struck me as Leigh and Tayla talked me through how the program works. Nobody is forced to be here. These young people choose to show up, week after week, because they want something more for themselves. The program runs in groups of around 10, aligned with school terms, and in that time, participants work towards a Certificate II in Skills for Work and Vocational Pathways. But the certificate, as impressive as it is, only tells part of the story.
Tayla’s passion for the program is obvious from the moment we sit down. She talks about the outcomes you can’t measure on paper: the confidence that builds, the social skills that sharpen, the moment a young person who has struggled in traditional education realises that actually, they can do this. Just in a different way, in a different setting, with the right support around them.
The smaller group sizes make a real difference, too. In a classroom of 30, it’s easy to shrink into the background, too embarrassed to ask the question you think everyone else already knows the answer to. In a group of 10, with people who genuinely want to help you succeed, that fear fades. And with it, something shifts. Young people who arrived anxious about any form of study start engaging, answering questions, and discovering they’re far more capable than they’d ever given themselves credit for.
Tayla shares the story of one participant who arrived riddled with self-doubt. He didn’t think he’d complete a single unit. He had challenges that could have easily become excuses. But he put in the effort, leaned into the support around him, and impressed everyone. Not because someone rescued him, but because someone gave him the space to back himself.
That’s the thread running through everything Leigh and Tayla shared with me. These young people aren’t lacking in work ethic or motivation. Many of them are absolutely fighting for it. They just need someone to give them a go. As it happens, Leigh oversees 12 different programs. Get Set for Work is just one that operates alongside initiatives like the Braking the Cycle program, which helps young people work towards getting their licence, and an After Dark boxing program that blends mentorship with physical fitness. It’s not uncommon for Get Set for Work participants to find their way into these other programs too, extending their connection to the club well beyond the initial 10 weeks.
And that extended connection matters. As a QPS officer, Leigh is acutely aware that some young people arrive with preconceptions about speaking to police. But through the program, those barriers dissolve. They get to know her. She gets to know them. And suddenly, there’s a trusted adult in their corner who they might not have otherwise had. Leigh tells me how former participants pop back into the club, sometimes years later, to proudly share what they’re up to. A traineeship. A job. A return to school with renewed purpose and a clearer sense of direction.
That kind of pride isn’t manufactured. It’s earned.
What really got me, though, were the ripple effects. Tayla told me about siblings who’ve come through the program after watching an older brother or sister flourish. In the current group alone, two participants signed up because their older siblings had already been through it. One young person was encouraged to join by someone in his residential care who’d done the program before and couldn’t stop raving about it.
You can’t buy that kind of endorsement. When young people are telling other young people that something is worth their time, you know it’s working.
Behind the scenes, more than 25 local businesses, organisations and services are involved in delivering the program. From mental health workshops and financial literacy sessions to industry visits and mock interviews, the community is rallying around its young people in ways that don’t always make the news but absolutely make a difference.
So here’s what I learned when I looked a little closer. Our region’s youth aren’t the stereotype. They’re not sitting around waiting for someone to hand them something. They’re turning up. They’re trying. And they’re more than ready, if we’re willing to be ready for them, too.
With deep gratitude to Sergeant Leigh Nancarrow and Tayla Houliston at PCYC Hervey Bay for sharing their time and passion with us. The Get Set for Work program is an initiative of Skilling Queenslanders for Work, funded by the Queensland Government’s Department of Trade, Employment and Training. To learn more about PCYC Hervey Bay and its programs, visit pcyc.org.au.