Welcome to Upstream Australia
Upstream Australia is a ‘change agency’ designed to support place-based collective impact system reform for how vulnerable young people and their families are supported, and a ‘collective impact backbone support platform’ to support the development and operations of the ‘Community of Schools and Services’ (COSS) collectives implementing the COSS Model and local system reform.
Upstream Australia also undertakes research and development (R&D) on social and educational outcomes and disadvantage, with particular focus on youth homelessness and early school leaving, and housing and homelessness system reform.
Latest Blog Posts From Upstream
Geelong Project helps stop descent into homelessness for disadvantaged youth
A year ago, James* was on the brink of homelessness, wasn't going to school and had a bleak outlook on what the rest of life was going to be like. "I thought my future … was going downhill extremely fast," the 17-year-old said. His home was a complex environment with...
A local approach to youth homelessness yields extraordinary results
The teachers had noticed Josh*, 17, seemed hostile. In class he was belligerent, closed off. And there was that incident with a box saw, when he cut up a school table. Josh wanted to quit school. Something was wrong at home, but no one could get him to open up. So, a...
Using an idea from Australia, Seattle could try to end youth homelessness before it begins
What if, instead of trying to end youth homelessness, we could prevent it from ever happening? A new approach that starts with that question to tackle a growing and ubiquitous problem in the Puget Sound region could soon come to Seattle, making it one of the first...
