Open Award Centre

Start your Award today with YouthAdvance

Meet new people, gain recognition for activities you are already doing, challenge yourself, have fun, learn and be active in your community. Give the Duke of Edinburgh Award a try – Be Your Own Champion!

YouthAdvance has partnered with many schools across Australia and you may already be a School Partner Participant!!

However, if your school doesn’t run Duke of Ed – you can still do your Award with us as an OPEN Participant.

When you register with us, if your school is listed as a School Partner, please select that school. If your school is not listed, please choose the OAC for your State and you can be an Open Participant!

What is an Open Participant?

YouthAdvance has a goal to offer the Award to as many young Australians as possible. As an Open Participant, you can join the Award through YouthAdvance (who are an Open Award Centre -OAC) and do the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, even if your school doesn’t run it.

The YouthAdvance Open Award Centre is perfect for participants whose schools, universities, or workplaces can not offer the Award. The YA OAC is also perfect for school leavers who wish to complete the Award post-education. Participants can transfer across to YouthAdvance to finish their current level and move forward from there. 

Why Choose YouthAdvance?

Our passion for working with young Australians and helping them achieve their goals, build resilience in these challenging times and encourage confidence is why we are the leaders in this field. 

Our management team and several members of our Award Leader and AJ staff have completed the Award. So we have a keen understanding of what our participants are working towards and the challenges they will face. Our team works with our participants, guiding them through the process to help them overcome the challenges and increase their confidence in decision-making. 

The YouthAdvance OAC provides its participants with the framework to achieve their Award. Our Award Leaders guide, motivate and provide assistance via a range of methods and tools. No matter your location, personal challenges or physical abilities, we are here to assist you with your Award journey, from Bronze through to Gold Level. All we ask is you have the desire to become #WorldReady

YouthAdvance prides itself on providing quality services in line with the philosophy of the Award. We allow our participants to practice and refine their leadership skills, challenge themselves, and develop communication, teamwork, and mental stamina. Our participants walk away with a sense of purpose, a drive for change and a lasting impression of both the Award and YouthAdvance. 

How it Works?

As an Open Award Centre, our role is to assist and encourage our participants to work independently to achieve their goals using the Award as the framework.

As an Award Participant, a YouthAdvance membership provides you with access to the following services and events, all designed to help you get started as quickly as possible:

  • A Dedicated Award Leader who is assigned to you as your main contact.
  • Information session for parents to understand the Award.
  • Award setup video which details the big picture, each step as well as lots of tips and tricks.
  • Regular open fortnightly voluntary participant meetings via Zoom coordinated at a state and national level.
  • Set up meetings dedicated to helping our participants get started, covering ORB registration, Award set up, logging hours etc run at School Partner venues or via Zoom.
  • Award completion meetings covering Award completion, Award Logs reviewed, AJ Reports, Assessor Reports, Award sign off process
  • Phone, email and zoom support as required with their Award Leader
  • Free attendance to the YouthAdvance Award Youth Forum and Presentation held annually

Our open state and national “Zoom” meetings are excellent learning opportunities, sharing ideas and connecting with other young Aussies in the same situation. We also find these meetings motivational to many, which aids in keeping those hours being logged.

Where can I do my Award?

YouthAdvance is proud to be licensed to deliver the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award as an Open Award Centre for Bronze, Silver and Gold, in the following states and territories:

  • New South Wales (NSW)
  • Australia Capital Territory (ACT)
  • South Australia (SA)
  • Queensland (QLD)
  • Victoria (VIC)
  • Tasmania (TAS)

School Partnerships

If you are a teacher or parent who wants to get the Award up and running in the school with no administration required, or to get some assistance with the Adventurous Journeys – please have a look at becoming a School Partner HERE.