22/10/2026
Youth disengagement on the Central Coast is above the NSW rate as a local primary prevention program delivering positive outcomes faces an uncertain future.
Coast Shelter is calling for urgent action to support at-risk young people, warning that community safety starts with prevention, not crisis response.
Almost 52,000 young people aged 12 to 24 call the Central Coast home. Yet too many are at risk of being left behind.
Central Coast Council’s Youth Strategy 2026–2031 shows that 11.6% of local 15 to 24-year-olds are disengaged from education, employment or training, compared with 9.5% across NSW. The Strategy also identifies 6,453 local young people affected by mental illness, at a rate significantly above the NSW average.
“We need to stop waiting until young people are at breaking point before we respond,” Coast Shelter CEO Alicia Pigot said.
“The reality is that most young people do not choose the circumstances they face. Many have experienced challenges that place them at greater risk of disengagement, homelessness, poor mental health or involvement with the justice system.”
“Primary prevention services create opportunities for young people who have too often fallen through the gaps in other systems to feel valued, heard and supported, build their skills and confidence, and begin to see new possibilities for their future. A community can only truly thrive when everyone belongs, everyone is valued, and no one is left without the support they need.”
A local response that is working
Coast Shelter’s Step Forward program supports young people facing barriers including school disengagement, unemployment, housing instability, mental health challenges and justice involvement, showing what the right support at the right time can achieve.
Among young people who completed the program, 83% felt supported and 67% were confident about their future. Two-thirds identified a pathway to further education, more than half identified an employment opportunity and almost one in three had already moved into employment or secured a future start date.
But funding for Step Forward is coming to an end, leaving its future uncertain.
“At a time when our community is deeply concerned about youth disengagement and community safety, we should be investing in programs that reach young people early, not risk losing them,” Ms Pigot said.
Invest earlier
Coast Shelter estimates $350,000 a year is needed to continue Step Forward.
“The question isn’t simply what Step Forward costs. It’s what it costs our community when we don’t invest in young people. When young people reach crisis, the response becomes much more complex,” she said.
Local challenges need local backing
Coast Shelter sees firsthand how youth disadvantage can intersect with homelessness, housing insecurity and domestic and family violence, and is calling for:
- greater State and Federal Government investment in prevention and early intervention
- urgent investment to secure the future of Step Forward on the Central Coast; and
- local businesses, philanthropists and community members to back local solutions.
“This is bigger than one program and bigger than Coast Shelter. These are our young people and this is our community.”
Back local. Act early. Give young people a way forward.
The need is growing. The funding is ending.
Donate now to help protect the future of Step Forward and the young people who rely on it.
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