Youth education partnerships / Country Fire Authority [and] Office for Youth.

Highly commended: Pre-disaster Category, Combination Stream, Safer Communities Awards 2006.

"'Advance' is a youth development program implemented by the Department of Victorian Communities, Office for Youth, community organisations and Victorian government secondary schools. The essential elements of Advance are that young people do something with their community, they do it in partnership with a community organisation and that it includes young people's choice. The Youth Education Partnerships package was developed by the Country Fire Authority and the Office for Youth to build the capacity of young people and their communities through a youth development and dynamic risk management approach. It fosters the application of Advance program principles to a broader range of stakeholders eg. TAFE Colleges, schools through the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning, and other curriculum initiatives; neighbourhood houses, scouts, etc. Youth Education Partnerships is a framework to support CFA brigades, schools, neighbourhood houses and potentially, universities and TAFE Colleges, to actively involve young people working towards being safe in their place of study, home or community. The Partnership involves young people looking at the risks in their community and developing strategies to address these risks. The Partnerships are aimed at young people who are about to live independently, not knowing about cooking and drying clothes safely, emergency management planning and fire or