Do you and your friends have great ideas? Are you in Year 8,9, or 10 and want to make a difference in your community?

Join the Youth Connexions Hack-A-Thon! A fun, team-based event where young people team up to craft creative, youth-led solutions to real challenges faced by people in Whitehorse.

Who: People in years 8, 9 and 10
What: Teams (groups of 4-6) come together to hack-out solutions to one of the real-life challenges listed below
When: Tuesday 25 November, 9am - 4pm
Where: Box Hill Town Hall (Matsudo and Gawler rooms)

What to Expect

• Work in your team to tackle real community challenges
• Get support and guidance from mentors throughout the day
• Develop creative ideas and present them to Whitehorse City Councillors
• Connect with other young people who care about making a difference

How to Get Involved

1. Get a team together (groups of 4-6)
2. Register your team
3. Choose a challenge from the list below
4. Get brainstorming with your team
5. Rock up on the day, ready to hack out your community challenge

Register a team here!

Hack-a-thon Challenges / Themes

Choose one of the following themes to explore on the day:

• Access to mental health services
• Strengthening local youth service visibility and navigation
• Increasing access to services that support the needs of young people
• Education, employment, and life skills support
• Support for international students and CALD young people
• Enhancing social connection and community belonging
• Supporting families of adolescents

Event Structure

Hack It. Solve It. Own It.
Youth Leading Youth Change

The Whitehorse Youth Connexions team will be present all day.

Council mentors will be available to support teams to bring their ideas together, ready for presentation.

If you are a school-based team, the expectation is that there is a teacher present to support the school’s young people.

This is a free event, all supplies, food and drink throughout the day will be provided by Whitehorse Youth Connexions

Who are Youth Connexions

We provide support for young people aged 10-25 who live, work, study and/or are connected to the Whitehorse community. Our qualified team offer free support, working with young people to identify and provide a tailored approach to meet their individual and specific needs. "We meet you where you're at, without judgment."

Parents, carers, and professionals can also access information and support.

How can we help

• Listen and provide emotional support
• Work through challenges together
• Connect you with specialist services (mental health, employment, housing)
• Provide reliable information on youth-related topics
• Advocate and help you navigate systems

Contact Us

Reach out to us via your preferred method – whatever feels comfortable. We'll chat about what's happening and how we can help.

Phone: 03 8873 9140 (between 9am - 5pm weekdays)
Email: youth.worker@whitehorse.vic.gov.au 
or DM us on social media, you can find us on Facebook and Instagram