Advocate

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth Introducing the "Lived Experience" panel at the Jobs and Skills Summit

I am a passionate youth advocate - leveraging my lived experience of unemployment and mental ill-health to bring about positive societal and systemic change.

Nathan Carolus

Nathan is a 26-year-old Youth Advisor based in Frankston, on Melbourne's Mornington peninsula. He is a passionate advocate for young people and is committed to making meaningful change in his local community.

Having first engaged several years ago as a young person seeking support, Nathan’s work at the Brotherhood of St. Laurence has provided him the opportunity to advocate for youth at the Jobs & Skills Summit in Canberra, and to twice host the organisation’s annual Sambell Oration.

Having dealt personally with significant mental health issues, and having experience as a participant within Australia's employment services system, Nathan is extremely well placed to provide feedback and alternative solutions that result in greater outcomes for young people.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) and Nathan Carolus (right) speaking at the Jobs and Skills Summit

Advocacy

Copy of Victorian Parliament report into Gambling and Liquor harm. Text reads: "Public Accounts and Estimates Committee - Gambling and liquor regulation in Victoria: a follow up of three Auditor-General reports.
  • As a member of the Brotherhood of St. Laurence Youth Advisory Group, Nathan has worked to develop better services for young people; particularly those transitioning from schooling to employment and/or further study, as part of the Brotherhood’s Youth Transitions program.

    Nathan's work at BSL has seen him represent to governments both state and federal on numerous occasions, providing testimony to the House of Representatives’ Workforce Australia Review, and participating as a panelist at the 2022 Jobs and Skills Summit.

  • Nathan has also worked as part of the National Youth Employment Body’s Youth Advisory Group. Working alongside a dozen other young people from across Australia, the YAG has provided insight into how decisions regarding affecting can be better informed via the practice of co-design, and promotes youth involvement more generally.

A man with curly hair and a black jacket is speaking into a microphone at a panel discussion, with other attendees and a woman with straight hair and a face mask visible in the background.

Get in touch

A man with curly hair and a beard sitting at a table during a formal event, with a dark curtain in the background and other people partially visible.