History of the TPYSA
The Tom Price Youth Support Association was a concept started in 1987. At that time the organisation was called Paraburdoo & Tom Price Youth Support Association Inc and included the youth centres at both Tom Price and Paraburdoo. The origins of the centres was very much born from the hearts and passion of ordinary community members who worked together to advocate and lobby the local mining company, Hammersley Iron, for space to provide youth with a safe place to meet and interact. They secured the old single men’s quarters in Tom Price and secured funding for a purpose-built centre in Paraburdoo.
In those early days, the centres did operate more along the lines of youth clubs, with a fairly small budget of less than $40,000 which was provided by the Department of Child Development and the Rural Youth Information Service. This meant that the centres were only open minimum hours and the focus at that time was a safe hang out for youth after school.
Over the next ten years a multitude of services was established at the Tom Price Youth Centre as it was evident that youth issues were much more complex and demanded a more structured response. In those days, it was really the personal working relationships that were developed with other agencies and organisations that provided the benefits for youth. There was little funding, but the relationships were priceless and allowed for immediate response and the cutting of red tape. It is those relationships that established the more intensive support services we deliver today including Centrelink, Justice, Counselling, Advocacy and referral.
In 1999 the Tom Price and Paraburdoo Youth Centre’s split due to distance and the difficulties in administering two services which were 80kms apart. The association changed its name to the Tom Price Youth Support Association INC (TPYSA).
In January 2009 the Department for Child Protection contacted us and asked us to assist in revitalising the Paraburdoo Youth Centre. We managed this project with great success and worked with Rio Tinto to refurbish the building, develop a structure for service delivery, appoint a worker and engage local youth. We managed this project for 18 months at which point we were asked to officially absorb the PYC into our operations. After negotiations, this officially occurred on the 1 January 2011.