AUSTRALIAN REFUGEE VOLUNTEERS
THRIVING YOUNG PEOPLE, 2025
When you are a teenager navigating a new language, new rules and a new city, belonging can feel very far away. Australian Refugee Volunteers (ARV) exists to close that distance for young people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds, creating a safe, consistent community where confidence grows, friendships form and everyday skills compound.
Entirely volunteer-run and based in Western Sydney, ARV delivers social, educational and recreational activities anchored in three principles: building personal confidence, creating social connection and enabling learning and development.
For a charity powered solely by volunteers, raising $95,700 – more than triple their target – in one night did not just widen the plan, it reset the horizon. “The TFN funding has been absolutely amazing and game-changing for us,” says Sally Yu, ARV’s Volunteer Grants Manager. “It challenged us to think bigger, about who we can reach, the kinds of activities we can run and how we look after the volunteers who make it all possible.”
ARV moved quickly to mobilise the funding to create more variety and more stability for those enrolled in their programmes. “I’d say first was probably diversifying activities… laser tag, go-karting and being able to expand the types of things we can offer,” says Sally. “One of the key events was the flagship annual camp and we brought it back. We couldn’t have done it without TFN funding.” What followed mattered most: attendance rose, more participants opted into physically and socially demanding sessions, and one teen summed up the confidence shift by saying, “If I can do this, I can try anything.”
The path to youth leader: Meet Aziz
Aziz first joined ARV as a teenager from a refugee background, arriving with limited local networks and little confidence in his English. After taking part in weekly programmes and the multi-day camp, he found his footing, built friendships and began helping younger participants. He has since become an active volunteer, a clear example of how belonging and skills translate into leadership.
ARV is formalising this alumni to volunteer pathway, restarting a charities programme where teens serve others, shaping a youth advisory group so current clients can influence programme design, and codifying training and recognition so more alumni like Aziz can step into roles with assurance and continue the cycle of support.
And it’s working. Young people who met at camp are showing up for each other at weekday sessions, and kids from different suburbs and schools are building friendships that wouldn’t exist otherwise. The team is also laying groundwork to reach beyond Western Sydney into South-West, South and North-West Sydney, starting with local partnerships and more regular social media outreach where families already are.
More than half of humanitarian arrivals are under 18, and the stresses of forced migration run deep. ARV meets that reality with consistent relationships and moments of joy. TFN support did not simply fund more outings, it brought back anchor experiences, opened pathways to new skills and helped ARV alumni step into leadership. The result is young people who are more confident, families who can rely on safe, structured time, and volunteers who see their efforts multiply through the next cohort.