Spotlight: A wallet card that opens doors for Wheatbelt’s young people
South-east of Perth, in the Southern Wheatbelt, six small communities are working innovatively together to support local young people.
Over the past five years, the Pingelly Brookton Local Drug Action Team (LDAT) have rolled out the Within Your Wallet (WYW) program in the region, giving young people free access to local activities and clear information about mental health and alcohol and other drug (AOD) support.
The LDAT has just completed its sixth Community Action Plan (CAP). WYW is now recognised across the region, with young people looking forward to the program each summer.
Pingelly Brookton LDAT’s vision is that no young person has to go without support, connection or something positive to do after school.
The challenge
Jess Daniels is the Wheatbelt Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Coordinator at Holyoake. She implemented the program and worked alongside the Pingelly Community Resource Centre – the LDAT’s lead organisation.
Jess explained that the WYW project started with listening to local young people. In 2020, Holyoake ran a youth voice survey that received more than 300 responses.
“We found that there was increasing disengagement from school, growing mental health challenges, increasing AOD use,” Jess said.
“We talked to stakeholders and they identified the same thing.”
Support for young people in the Wheatbelt was thin on the ground. Holyoake, the local AOD counselling service, could only work with young people aged 15 and over, and only if they were assessed as a mature minor.
The nearest headspace service was 200 kilometres away. And at the time, it didn't have a youth counsellor.
On top of that, there was a lack of accessible recreation activity options.
“In country WA, there's not many free activities available that are healthy and safe for young people to participate in,” Jess explained.
“So, they will then do other things.”
The LDAT saw a chance to tackle two issues at once. WYW aimed to reconnect young people with school and community, while building their awareness of mental health and AOD support.
The solution
Through the WYW program, young people aged 10 to 18 were given a free, waterproof wallet card.
Each card lists local and online mental health and AOD support services, along with a QR code linking to more relevant information on the Pingelly CRC website.
Most importantly for young people, the card also worked as currency. They could use it to access swimming pools, gyms, basketball, netball and squash courts, as well as creative programs like art, singing and cooking classes – all at no cost.
The program is co-designed with local, place-based stakeholders and the young people themselves. This has helped build strong local ownership since it launched in 2021.
“I think Within Your Wallet's been so successful because it fills a gap of something that's not already happening,” Jess said.
For its sixth CAP, the LDAT refreshed the wallet cards with artwork from a local youth art competition. The refresh included updated support details and ID numbers.
New activities were added in response to community feedback. These include Lego club and a 3-on-3 basketball tournament.
And local radio advertising helped to spread the word to families and local community.
The progress
WYW has become a well-known name across the Southern Wheatbelt.
Since 2021, it has reached more than 1,500 young people across seven communities.
In this CAP, 15 organisations helped distribute wallet cards. Over 1,000 young people received one, far exceeding the goal of 600.
Of the young people surveyed, 65% said the wallet card had increased their awareness of local support services. And 60% said it made them feel more equipped to seek help if they needed it.
The LDAT delivered 17 different diversionary activities. These were accessed 4,070 times over the year, well past the target of 3,000.
More than half of survey respondents said attending activities helped them feel more connected to others, such as seeing friends or meeting new people. Around 60% felt more confident accessing local support services.
For Jess, the impact showed up in everyday moments.
“Even just seeing it active in community is really heartwarming,” she said.
“I go to the gym, as a community member myself, and I see the wallet cards sitting there, because young people have used them to get into the gym. People don't know that I'm coordinating it, but I can kind of step back and see that it's working.”
“It's now a region-wide recognised program. So, you can say “Within Your Wallet” to most young people, and most people that work in the sector, and they know what you're talking about,” Jess said.
None of it happens without a wide network of partners. The Pingelly CRC led the LDAT and managed the finances, WA Country Health Service helped deliver presentations in schools, and the Shires of Narrogin, Williams, Wagin, Pingelly, Brookton and Wickepin funded the free entry for young people.
About 12 schools across the region hosted wallet card presentations. Avon Community Services and the Aboriginal-controlled organisation Keedac also partnered with the program.
Advice to other LDATs
Jess's advice to other LDATs starting out is simple. Build a program around what young people say they need, not what adults assume they need.
“We didn't just create the project because we thought it was a good idea. We created it based on a need, and we've continued to adapt it to the changing things that are relevant for young people throughout the years,” Jess said.
Every time a CAP wraps up, the team surveys young people and asks how the program could improve. That feedback shapes the next one, including the new activities recently added for CAP number 6.