Northern Bay Guarantee: Evaluation Report

The Northern Bay Guarantee program was established in 2013 as a partnership between Northern Bay College, Northern Futures, the Gordon Institute of TAFE, Deakin University and Viva Energy to achieve the shared vision of reducing the educational barriers experienced by teenage parents living in the Norlane and Corio communities of Northern Geelong.
The partners guaranteed their two-year commitment to overcoming the educational and economic disadvantage experienced by up to 26 single parents aged between 15 to 25, by providing eligible participants with access to fee-free employment development programs, national training programs and higher education degrees.
The project ran throughout 2014 and 2015 and achieved its high level goal by enabling 20 young parents to participate in a broad range of Vocational Education and Training programs directly related to their employability in skill shortage areas in the Geelong Community.
Four of the young parents had achieved successful employment outcomes by the end of the second year of the project, and it is highly likely that more of the participants will continue to acquire productive employment in the coming two to three years as they continue to complete their education and training programs and leverage these to gain employment.
While many of the young parents had completed training to at least Certificate IV level, several of the participants had also commenced Diploma level qualifications by the conclusion of the two-year project. It is also highly likely that within the next two to three years several of the young parents will now be able to act on their desire to pursue a higher education degree at Deakin University in fields such as nursing.
The partnership developed to form the Northern Bay Guarantee vision and subsequent strategy provided a basis for developing a much deeper and shares understanding about the barriers faced by young parents, and an appreciation of constraints faced by each of the different partner organisations.
The model of collaboration adopted by the partners also facilitated the partners’ capacity to be flexible and responsive to the unique circumstances faced by each of the 20 participants, and in particular to adapt to the new financial barriers created by recent changes in VET and childcare policy.
Although there is already significant evidence of the projects’ social impact, as evidenced by the number and levels of training programs completed by the 20 participants, it is likely that the true return on investment will be realised in the coming years through the young parents’ employment and subsequent social and economic contribution to Australian society.
The legacy of the project also provides the basis to interrupt the cycle of poverty and disadvantage that would otherwise impact the young parents’ children if their parents hadn’t re-engaged in education and training through the Northern Bay Guarantee program. The longer-term economic benefit of the project can therefore be understood by its potential to reduce intergenerational poverty, and avoiding the subsequent financial demands related to long-term unemployment, poor health, antisocial behaviour and potential incarnation.