New direction for Shire Youth Services
Published on 03 September 2025
We are improving the way we deliver youth services on the Mornington Peninsula with the aim of expanding opportunities for young people to connect and belong.
At the 2 September Council Meeting, councillors decided to partner with a range of external providers to deliver a more targeted and flexible mix of services for our young people. This new model will provide more opportunity for them to connect with services at a time and place that suits them.
The Shire will retain strong leadership on youth-related issues, ensuring young people have ongoing involvement in the planning, design and evaluation of the services provided to them.
Under the new model, our three youth hubs at Rosebud, Mornington and Hastings will become busier than ever, offering a base for existing providers and other services not currently available on the Mornington Peninsula.
The changes are in response to an in-depth analysis of the way we deliver youth services, carried out as part of an ongoing review of all Shire services.
The review included benchmarking against other comparable councils and engaging with stakeholders and those who use the services, including 421 young people. Insights from more than 5,000 stakeholders across a range of other community engagement projects were also analysed.
The review identified opportunities to improve service quality, cost-effectiveness, accessibility and overall community satisfaction. It highlighted the benefits of partnering with expert service providers to expand the range and reach of services for young people, with Council taking a leadership role in oversight, coordination, policy and planning.
We have notified our staff, community partners, volunteers and clients about Council’s decision and will be consulting with them in the coming weeks to determine the key considerations needed to progress the new model and what the final structure should look like.
We will then develop a transition plan, based on that feedback. Council will continue to deliver youth services leading up to the transition. There will be no immediate change for families or our community partners. Updates will be shared as more information becomes available.
More information can be found at: mornpen.vic.gov.au/youthservices
Quotes attributable to Mayor Anthony Marsh:
“This new model will boost the range and reach of services available to our young people. Our aim is to future-proof our youth services and deliver more targeted initiatives for the Peninsula’s younger population.
“We really want to ensure young people who can’t access one of our youth hubs do not miss out on the supports and services they need. We also want young people to be at the centre of Council’s decision-making on the future shape of our youth services.
“We want to enhance existing partnerships and attract some new services to the Peninsula. There are a range of great providers not able to offer youth services on the Peninsula due to a lack of facilities. We want to partner with them to further activate our three youth hubs and provide a base for outreach.
“Council started looking at how we could improve the delivery of youth services back in 2024, as part of our rolling Service Review. This is about delivering the best service we can for our young people.”