Abstract
NSAHS received funding through the NSW Health Community Health Innovation Program to develop a pilot which encouraged youth health partnerships. In 1999, NSAHS developed the Youthealth Project. The project consisted of three main initiatives to improve young people’s access to health services. The first initiative was to develop guidelines, based on a literature review, of what makes services ‘youth friendly’ (Appendix 2). The second was to develop a youth internet site (section 3.10) and the third initiative was to establish ‘youth consultants’ in the Area (section 3.4). A diverse group of young people from the Northern Sydney area were recruited and trained to act as youth consultants. Youth consultants made visits to service providers in the Area and carried out a review of their ‘youth friendliness’. The consultants also provided the service with a report of their findings. Youth consultants aimed to improve service providers’ awareness of the need to develop a youth-friendly atmosphere to improve access for young people. It was also expected that through word-of-mouth the consultants, as young people themselves, would increase their peers’ knowledge, awareness and confidence in using services.