2024-2025 Impact Report

President’s Report

This year, Y Canberra Region experienced a significant uplift and investment in our governance and operations, as we focused on delivering our Y Canberra Region – Toward 2030 Strategy and ensuring long-term organisational sustainability.

The Board was pleased to welcome new Directors — Anne Brown, Jason Handel, and Matthew Sandford —bringing significant expertise in finance, asset management, governance, and cyber security. I would like to sincerely thank the outgoing Chair of Y Canberra Region, Aaron Froud, for his outstanding service and leadership since joining our association in 2013. Aaron’s dedication to the Y has been unwavering. While we farewell him from his role as Chair, we are proud to see him continue his commitment to the Y as he takes on a new role as a Director on Y Australia’s Board.

We were also excited to appoint our first youth Board trainee under the age of 30, Hansi Ganga, reflecting our commitment to empowering young people in leadership and governance. This commitment was further strengthened through the renewal of our Youth Representative Group (YRG), now guided by Chair Kobi Stray. The YRG adopted updated Terms of Reference and welcomed its first external youth members this year, joining our existing YRG representatives who are employees of Y Canberra Region.

Together, these developments mark a strong step forward in ensuring youth voice and leadership remain central to our mission.

In 2025, Y Canberra Region placed a strong emphasis on long-term organisational sustainability, recognising the evolving business environment and the importance of investing in both our people and community assets. The Board is focused on restoring Y Canberra Region’s financial position and has developed a plan to return to operating surpluses in the near future. We are confident our strategy will restore financial health and sustainability, ensuring we continue to deliver on our mission for the Canberra community.

A key milestone was the development of our inaugural People Strategy – The Future of Meaningful Work – a five-year roadmap focused on supporting and empowering our staff. This strategy reflects our commitment to creating a purposeful, values-driven workplace that attracts, retains, and nurtures talent across Y Canberra Region.

Alongside our investment in people, we undertook significant capital works to maintain and enhance our physical assets. These improvements were essential to upholding high service standards and meeting the expectations of our community—both of which are critical to sustaining our revenue and ensuring continued positive impact.

Our strong relationship with Y Australia continued in 2025, highlighted by our active involvement in a review of Y Australia’s licensing and subscription models and our contribution to the successful tender to deliver a National Youth Parliament next year. We were also proud to see Y Canberra Region’s Patrick Knight selected as one of just eight Y staff across Australia to participate in the prestigious World YMCA Global Change Agent program, culminating in his attendance at the YMCA World Council in Toronto, Canada in 2026.

These achievements demonstrate our growing influence and contribution not just locally, but across the national and global Y movement.

We are excited to welcome our new Patron, Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. Her Excellency’s patronage is deeply meaningful to our organisation and comes at a significant moment in our journey, as we prepare to celebrate Y Canberra Region’s 85th anniversary in 2026.

As the new Board Chair, I’m honoured to be part of Y Canberra Region, and I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all Y staff, volunteers, supporters, partners, and members for another meaningful and impactful year.

CEO Report

The Y team has experienced both a productive and challenging year, working to align our organisation with the goals of the Y’s Strategy 2030, investing in our organisational sustainability, staff, and community assets, while navigating a difficult business climate and significant reforms in the Early Years Education and Care (ECEC) sector.

The Y Canberra Region is a leading provider of Early Years services across our Region, managing a substantial portfolio of Early Years services, we are deeply committed to the education, wellbeing, and safety of children—our highest priority. Our Y team is well-positioned to respond to National Early Years sector reforms and continues to lead by example, achieving a rating of ‘Excellence’ in Safeguarding from independent accreditors, the Australian Children’s Foundation.

This year, we have further strengthened our close partnership with the ACT Government. Our Y Belconnen Early Learning Centre team was proud to host the Minister for Education and Early Years, Yvette Berry MLA, in celebration of the one-year anniversary of the ACT Government’s Three-Year-Old Preschool Program—an initiative that provides free, high-quality preschool education. In addition, we continued supporting families and children experiencing vulnerability through our Children’s Services Program and Three-Year-Old Initiative for up to 500 families in need.

With a strong focus on Early Years, our team set a new goal in 2025: to expand our impact by delivering more youth programs. Until now, our organisation was the only Y association in Australia without a Y Youth Parliament—a flagship Civics program run for decades by other States and Territories. That changed this year with the announcement of the ACT Y Youth Parliament, set to launch in 2026, made possible through the generous support of the Snow Foundation, Hands Across Canberra, and the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund. Adding to the momentum, we were proud to partner with the Y Australia team and the Department of the House of Representatives to establish a National Youth Parliament in 2026.

With over 165,000 students visiting the National Capital each year, Canberra plays a pivotal role in Australia’s Civics Education. The Y team continues to support this educational journey through its two dedicated group accommodation sites: Bush Capital Lodge in O’Connor and Leumeah Lodge in Gold Creek, Nicholls. A highlight of the year was the recognition of our commitment to quality and service, with Leumeah Lodge receiving a Commendation Award in the 3.5 Star Accommodation category at the Canberra Region Tourism Awards — a testament to our team’s ongoing efforts to provide comfortable, student-friendly accommodation experiences.

Our Health and Wellbeing team continues to positively contribute to the health of our community, with our RAID program celebrating its 40th Anniversary with Radford College. The birthday celebration was marked by the expansion of the RAID program to a second site at Marist College Canberra.

In addition to our new People Strategy, the team continued enhancements to our financial systems and technology infrastructure, crucial to reducing operating costs. Our asset review also included the hand-back of Yarralumla Hall and support for the Queanbeyan District Basketball Association redevelopment at Karabar, NSW.

On behalf of our Y management team, I would like to thank staff and volunteers for their efforts this year. I am looking forward to 2026 — a year that will bring continued growth, improvement, and new highlights for our community.