16 YARDS

INTENSIVE MENTORING

PROGRAM

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Victoria’s leading lived experience mentoring model
for youth justice & related sectors

Mentoring at 16 Yards is structured, high engagement work delivered by trained lived-experience consultants.

Every session is designed to build connection quickly, challenge old narratives, and open real pathways to growth, resilience, and aspiration.

Chosen by young people

✔ 90% self-referral rate
Most of the young men we work with actively request our service.

✔ Relatability
Our mentors are specialists in authenticity, drawing on shared experiences and communication styles.

✔ Beyond crime desistance
We don’t just focus on what young people leave behind. We build personal development, character, resilience, and achievable aspiration.

What our mentoring covers

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What sets us apart

✔ Elite practice
This is Victoria’s leading youth justice lived experience model, the “16 Yards Identity Transformation model” which is recognised and adopted across the system.

✔ Professionalised approach
Our mentors are trained, supervised, and supported consultants.

✔ Practice oversight
Our service has embedded governance and practice safeguards, ensuring safety, accountability, and effectiveness.

✔ System-wide impact
Every government funded lived experience youth justice program in Victoria now undergoes 16 Yards training.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR MODEL

Impact

  • 'The mentor from 16 Yards showed me that I could do something with my life. He didn’t sugar-coat it, but he showed me a way out. No one’s ever done that before.'

    MENTEE

  • 'It’s more of a mate than anything, bro. It’s a mate who’s actually gonna be there and f****** support you and help you get your f******* s*** together, you know?'

    MENTEE

  • 'I think just seeing that someone had done it, you know? Someone had, like, turned themselves around, done the 180, you know? That’s, like, you know, it’s encouraging, bro.'

    MENTEE

  • '16 Yards is pure magic. It was the first time I’d participated in a care team meeting where there was such an air of possibility, opportunity and positivity. I even wore my 16 Yards shirt into the office and everyone wanted one!'

    CASE MANAGER - MACKILLOP FAMILY SERVICES

  • 'It is clear that your team has very quickly and intuitively connected and built trust with a young person to whom such trust does not come readily. It’s particularly positive to see their voice and reflective self-identification of risks and needs so prominent in the narrative.'

    YOUTH JUSTICE WORKER - DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

  • 'Thank you and the team for the truly phenomenal work you do to support young people.'

    CASE MANAGER - ANGLICARE VICTORIA

  • 'He's similar to me. They’ve been in similar positions. He’s gone through the system and he’s changed his life around, you know. And I want to be like that. I don’t want to be in and out of jail all my life'

    MENTEE

  • 'I felt like I could talk to them straight away. Normally I don’t trust people, but they were just real.'

    MENTEE

  • 'When we share with people the engagement happening with a young person, a lot of people can’t believe it! The guidance and support your mentors provide is just as valuable for staff as it is for the young people. I cannot tell you how appreciated it is!'

    CASE MANAGER - MACKILLOP FAMILY SERVICES

  • 'Our young person cannot speak more highly of 16 yards, it has been a great program for him to be a part of.'

    CASE MANAGER - ANGLICARE VICTORIA

  • 'We are a strong supporter and advocate of the work of 16 Yards. 16 Yards aligns strongly with our support for increased access for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young people to culturally appropriate lived-experience mentors, and strengths-based mentoring programs.'

    CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER - ABORIGINAL COMMUNITY ORGANISATION

  • 'I look at my mentor as like one of my older cousins… when we talk about stuff, it’s like we’re in the same mindset. Whatever I say, I feel like he understands it, whatever he’s saying, like I understand it.'

    MENTEE

  • 'Like in general, whatever he’s even doing with his life, it motivates me. I’m like, yeah, I could be like that.'

    MENTEE

  • “'If I’m telling someone, I’d tell them, it actually really did help me, you know? Like, it changed like a lot of things for me.'

    MENTEE

  • 'After getting to know him, like, we had the same, like, experience and s***. So, it was, like, easy to talk to him.'

    MENTEE

  • 'I reckon my mentor is the reason why, like, I’m at this situation right now. Because when I was in jail… I was just, like, getting into trouble and s***. Until I sat down and had a talk with my mentor, made a plan and s***. So, yeah. I think my mentor is the reason why, like, I’m here today… This program does work.'

    MENTEE

  • 'We loved the way your mentor approached things and could see, just from the meeting, why they were such a good fit. Their approach is exactly what is needed and they appeared to have read the young person better than anyone who had engaged them before.'

    CARE PLAN COORDINATOR - CODE BLACK PSYCHOLOGY

  • “I heard that a young person has been able to remain in the community for an extended period and is now engaging in really positive, pro-social things. That brings me so much joy - for them, and for what 16 Yards is building. I was once curious if it would work for someone at that age, but the results speak for themselves. Credit to your team and the supports around them - amazing.'

    PRACTICE LEADER - DEPARTMENT OF FAMILIES, FAIRNESS AND HOUSING

  • 'Your mentor had such a warming presence, which helped a young person open up and engage almost instantly. I haven’t seen him light up that way before, and he later told me the mentor had made him feel important and given him hope. It was such a valuable and reflective experience.'

    CASE MANAGER - DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

  • “If I’m being dead honest… when boys get appointments, they all refuse every appointment. But they don’t refuse 16 Yards. They actually get up early, go outside to the basketball court, kick back… you guys are doing something right.'

    MENTEE

  • 'I appreciate you guys, what you guys done for me, looking after me, like you guys have been sending me on the right path. I’m not just telling you guys because you’re here, but you’ve actually sent me on the right path and I appreciate that.'

    MENTEE

  • 'They understand where we come from and what we go through every day. It’s different when it comes from someone who’s been through it, not just studied it.'

    MENTEE

Next steps

Whether you’re a professional looking to refer a young person, or an organisation wanting to explore partnership and funding pathways, we’d welcome the conversation.

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