Jade Anderssen

I hold a strong conviction that young people have the right to feel safe, heard and supported to reach their full potential, and the systems and people around them share responsibility for creating the conditions for this to happen.

For the first 12 years of my career, I worked in frontline child protection, supporting children, young people and families experiencing complex challenges. I came to understand that the circumstances shaping a child’s life rarely sit within the responsibility of one agency.

I saw how trauma, disadvantage and unmet needs can shape a young person’s life trajectory, and how fragmented responses across agencies can compound these challenges. For young people involved in serious and persistent offending, this can result in complex journeys through disconnected systems that are not always designed to respond cohesively to their needs.

I now work for NSW Police, developing an interagency program that brings government and community agencies together to support young people involved with the criminal justice system. This work has shown me the expertise and commitment across our service systems, but also the limitations created by organisational boundaries, competing priorities and fragmented responses.

The challenge is not necessarily that there is a lack of services, but in how effectively those services work together. The next step is moving beyond individual agencies working alongside one another towards systems that genuinely share responsibility, align effort and coordinate around young people’s needs—keeping their voices central.

Through a Churchill Fellowship, I want to learn from jurisdictions that have developed effective models of cross-sector coordination for high-risk young people involved with the criminal justice system. I hope to bring practical, evidence-informed approaches back to Australia to challenge organisational barriers and contribute to a system where agencies work collectively to improve outcomes for young people, families and communities.