ICYS Ipswich Community Youth Service

17/06/2026

Last Tuesday, as part of Reconciliation Week, ICYS in collaboration with ETC and Workforce Australia, hosted a Yarning Session for First Nations young people.

The event saw strong participation at the ICYS Ipswich Youth Hub, with many young people and community stakeholders coming together to connect, learn, and share experiences.

Hosted by the amazing Ceharnie Martin from ETC, we hosted a panel which consisted of proud First Nations speakers: Anthony Turner from Kmart/Target Group, Deejay Egan from DDC Group and Jess Gallman from Mob Box.

The stories shared by the three guest speakers were truly inspiring. Hearing about their journeys, the challenges they have overcome, and the successes they have achieved was both moving and empowering. Their experiences provided valuable insight and encouragement for the young people in attendance.

This session marks the beginning of a series of Yarning Sessions aimed at supporting and empowering First Nations young people across Ipswich. Through these ongoing opportunities for connection, mentorship, and shared learning, we look forward to continuing to strengthen pathways for our young people into the future 🖤💛❤️💙🤍💚

11/06/2026

The weather couldn’t get in the way of a great day of learning, understanding, connecting and growing our continuous learning journey about culture and trauma. These days are so valuable, to stop and reflect on our work with young people and families across our community. Thank you Aunty Sharon and Deekay for sharing your knowledge and time with us yesterday. We are looking forward to round two in a couple of weeks 🫶🏽

If you or your organisation are wanting to explore opportunities like this, described by one of the ICYS team as the best cultural training they have participated in, get in contact with Our Altruistic Group!

It was good day spent out at Hardings Paddock with some of the ICYS Ipswich Community Youth Service team.

When the community sector invest in upskilling their staff to complement cultural understanding and work capability, changes can occur.

The caseworkers working in the youth justice space, Pivot program, spent the day gaining current insight towards being more trauma aware.

If you would also like to know more about our Cultural Care programs for practitioners and clients, please reach out!!

25/05/2026

It is a dream partnership working alongside The Lady Musgrave Trust and our sector friends across SEQ🔥🙌🏽

Earlier this month, the Strengthening Family Centred Collaborations (SFCC) Queensland Regional Meet Up brought together collaborations from across the state funded through the Paul Ramsay Foundation's SFCC grant.

Our Services and Impact Lead Kaitlyn Bates attended the event alongside Pam (Brisbane Youth Service) and Katie (YFS), representing Strengthening Futures, a collaboration between The Lady Musgrave Trust, Churches of Christ Housing Services, Brisbane Youth Service, YFS and ICYS Ipswich Community Youth Service.

The day covered a lot of ground, including a reflective session on where our collaboration is now, where we want it to go, and how we'll get there together.

Thank you to our partners for the work you do every day to support young women and their children.

22/05/2026

🎧 What are you listening to on your drive home from work today? While your other half watches the footy tonight? While sitting on the sidelines of the kid’s weekend sports?

Take the opportunity to listen to The ICYS Laidback Hour radio show ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/54n6v2cj

You will hear from ICYS Cultural Connector, Craig, who discusses his new role in the newly formed PIVOT Program at ICYS.

📸: Craig, Russell (radio Producer from Phoenix Radio - Australia) and Andrew (ICYS Youth Employment & Training Lead).

28/04/2026

🚗 Ticket to drive Tuesday 🎉
L plates off… P plates activated 💥

Shout out to this legendary young person who just become a proud P Plate Driver and achieving a goal that now opens up so many more to get them ahead in life.

They say it takes a village to raise a child… and sometimes it takes a whole team to get a young person their licence 🚗

With limited services in the Lockyer Valley we were fortunate enough to have been able to link in with the team at PCYC Toowoomba.

Tim and his amazing volunteers in the Braking the Cycle program were amazing, especially with everything they themselves have had going on.

They were encouraging and backed this young person every step of the way. So a big thank you to you guys for helping this goal become a reality. 👏

28/04/2026

🚨 Closing soon! Some amazing school-based opportunities in both high schools and primary schools. Some new schools coming on board soon too, so get your application in asap to be considered for these and upcoming roles ⬇️

Keen to work in schools supporting student wellbeing and engagement?

We currently have vacancies in the following schools:
⭐️ Riverview State School - number of days flexible
⭐️ Harris Fields State School - 2 days / week
⭐️ Queensland Pathways State College (high school) - 4 days / week

Is this role for you?
✅ Cert IV Youth Work or ability to map qualification to required units (see Position Description for more info)
✅ Work term time only (school holidays off unpaid)
✅ Provide social, emotional, practical support and linkages to the broader community, working alongside the support teams of each school.

ℹ️ Click the link below for further info ⬇️

Find your ideal job at SEEK with 2 Icys jobs found in Australia. View all our Icys vacancies now with new jobs added daily!

22/04/2026

Keen to work in schools supporting student wellbeing and engagement?

We currently have vacancies in the following schools:
⭐️ Riverview State School - number of days flexible
⭐️ Harris Fields State School - 2 days / week
⭐️ Queensland Pathways State College (high school) - 4 days / week

Is this role for you?
✅ Cert IV Youth Work or ability to map qualification to required units (see Position Description for more info)
✅ Work term time only (school holidays off unpaid)
✅ Provide social, emotional, practical support and linkages to the broader community, working alongside the support teams of each school.

ℹ️ Click the link below for further info ⬇️

Find your ideal job at SEEK with 2 Icys jobs found in Australia. View all our Icys vacancies now with new jobs added daily!

22/04/2026

🚨 🚨 🚨 Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, Rainbow Chaos won’t be running this Friday – buuuuut we’ll be back on 29 May 2026 so save that date in your calendar! That gives you plenty of time to work on your costumes for our “Gods, Goddesses & Mythological Beings” event so there’s no excuse not to be absolutely demolishing the competition when it comes time for the costume contest. See you in May!

15/04/2026

💛 Youth Homelessness Matters Day 💛

Meet Codi. For five long years, Codi was homeless. During that time, he moved from place to place while dealing with serious health challenges, trauma, and some really tough circumstances. When he was referred to ICYS in October 2025, his health was deteriorating, he had run out of safe options, and he was facing the possibility of sleeping rough.
But that wasn’t the end of his story.
With support from the ICYS Youth Housing and Support team, things slowly started to turn around. Through consistent, empathetic, and flexible care, Codi was able to engage with the help he needed.
When he moved into emergency motel accommodation through ICYS, the change was almost immediate. Having a stable roof over his head and the right support around him made a huge difference. He started to feel better, more hopeful, and more motivated to work towards his goals.
In January 2026, Codi moved into Supported Independent Living that meets his needs, a place he can truly call home alongside his best mate Monty 🐈
Here’s what Codi had to say about his experience with ICYS:
💬 “Actual real human interaction, lovely staff, flexibility… ICYS is an incredible service. I can’t stress this enough. Thank you.”

🔵 This is what safe housing can do.
🟡 This is what happens when people genuinely care.
🟠 This is why youth homelessness matters today and every day.

Today, we celebrate the strength and resilience of Codi and all the young people in our community who are experiencing homelessness or struggling to find safe and stable housing. We also celebrate the Housing Support Workers who show up every day and support young people to change the trajectory of their lives.

A thank you must go to the Queensland Government for funding our homelessness services so that our community’s young people can achieve all they dream 💭

10/04/2026

📣📣 One week left to join in the fun of our holiday program activities.

Here is a sneak peak 👀 of the fun we had with our Lowood HUB and will be running again Monday at our Ipswich HUB:

Last Thursday we had the privilege of spending time with an incredible group of young women for our ✨ Brave, Bruised & Brilliant ✨ wellbeing day 💛

There were laughs, a few vulnerable moments, lots of creativity, and some really powerful reflections. We explored what it means to be brave in the hard moments, how life’s “bruises” don’t define us, and just how brilliant each girl already is ..... even while still growing.

🫶 So proud of every girl who showed up, gave things a go, and leaned into the experience. That’s what bravery looks like.

💫 You are not what you’ve been through ✨️ you are who you are becoming.