BackTrack supports young people through some of the most difficult periods of their lives.

From a small shed in Armidale to a nationally recognised youth organisation, BackTrack is proving what can happen when vulnerable young people are met with practical pathways, trusted relationships and steady support.

“We keep kids alive, we keep them out of jail, and we help them chase their hopes and dreams,” says BackTrack founder Bernie Shakeshaft.

This powerful statement is the simple mission that sits at the heart of the Armidale-based organisation, BackTrack, which has helped to change the lives of more than 1,000 young people across regional New South Wales since it started 20 years ago.

Founded in 2006, BackTrack was created after Bernie, a former youth worker, became frustrated watching vulnerable young people cycle in and out of schools, the justice system and other programs before they were ready to stand on their own feet. Determined to create something different, he built a model focused on long-term support, trust and connection for young people who had often run out of options.

“We have a holistic wraparound model where we do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to get young people across the line,” Bernie says.

What began with a shed, volunteers and a handful of teenagers has since grown into a nationally recognised organisation supporting young people through education programs, wellbeing support, mentoring and employment pathways.

BackTrack Works, the organisation’s employment and training arm, provides traineeships, casual employment and work experience opportunities in areas including welding and rural contracting.

The organisation currently works across the broader district beyond Armidale, partnering with outreach schools and communities stretching around 150 kilometres from the regional centre. Through the BackTrack Network, the model has also helped other communities establish similar programs.

“This stuff just takes time. But we’re in it for as long as it takes.”

The work is intensive, long-term and relational. Bernie says that is only possible because of philanthropy and community support. Despite operating a $9 million organisation with around 80 staff, only two per cent of BackTrack’s funding comes from government.

“Generosity, philanthropy and private funders” are what make the work possible, he says, with organisations including Equity Trustees and the Active Philanthropy team helping connect BackTrack with supporters committed to creating long-term change.

That long-term investment allows BackTrack to stay alongside young people through some of the most difficult periods of their lives. This is something the organisation’s wellbeing assistant, Balie, knows firsthand.

Years before she returned to BackTrack as a wellbeing assistant, Balie first came through its doors as a teenager struggling to find where she belonged. When she arrived at 14, school had become a place where she felt disconnected and judged.

“I just didn’t fit in,” says Balie. “Being in a small town, people already had expectations about who I’d be. I felt like people had already decided who I was going to become.”

Referred to BackTrack through school, Balie began attending a girls’ group one day a week. “That was the best day of the week,” she says. “You’d come in, you felt that you were achieving something.”

Over time, she found confidence, purpose and a sense of belonging. BackTrack’s approach is grounded in the Circle of Courage framework, which focuses on belonging, mastery, independence and generosity, principles Balie says still shape how she approaches life today.

“Belonging, it’s always feeling like you’re a part of something,” she says. “You’re coming in and you feel respected. Nobody’s better than you. Everybody’s equal.”

Ask young people at BackTrack to describe the organisation in one word, she says, and most would answer the same thing: “family”.

Balie later moved into a school-based traineeship through BackTrack and Armidale Hospital. She went on to spend seven years working in the health system before returning to BackTrack as a wellbeing assistant, supporting other young people navigating the same challenges she once faced.

Bernie says stories like Balie’s are proof that young people can thrive when someone refuses to give up on them.

“This stuff just takes time,” Bernie says. “But we’re in it for as long as it takes.”

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 Photo credit: Simon Scott