Established in 2009 in Melbourne, Australia, Satellite Foundation is an accessible, caring not-for-profit organisation that connects and empowers young people who have a family member living with mental health challenges. We understand this may also include young people in families experiencing challenges with substance use, family conflict or violence, complex trauma, or other adverse life circumstances.
These challenges can impact all family members, so Satellite takes a whole-of-family approach including peers and the wider community.
Young people are the heartbeat of the Satellite community. Their voices are heard in our Satellite Squad, Youth Advisory Council and co-creating our programs. They lead us and guide us with their knowledge and expertise.
Meet our fantastic team, which includes many program graduates in casual roles, too.
MEET THE TEAMSatellite Foundation wants every young person to have access to safe, creative, and inclusive spaces for brave conversations that enhance their mental health, wellbeing, and connectedness.
Satellite puts children and young people at the heart of everything we do. Our programs support the ongoing growth and transformation of young people so they can realise their full potential. And we’re here for the long-term, supporting young people into early adulthood and beyond.
Compassion – People are at the heart of all we do. We see you. We hear you. We’re here for you.
Creativity – Creativity is our language and expression of how we build safe and fun spaces to feel joy and be brave.
Community – We believe that shared experience fosters friendships, builds connections, and sustains a sense of belonging.
Inclusivity – We encourage and empower diverse individuals and communities, listening to, and honouring, their voices.
Collaboration – We listen and learn from each other, honouring the value of lived and living experience and building it into all that we do.
We recognise people who have lived experience of mental health challenges, through experiencing it themselves or in their support for a loved one.
We recognise the intersectional experiences of our community and welcome the unique perspectives that members of First Nations, CALD, LGBTQIA+, neurodiverse, D/deaf and/or Disabled communities bring to our space. We respect the choice people have in describing their own identities, genders, bodies, and relationships.
Satellite Foundation has positively impacted the lives of many children and young people who have a family member living with mental health challenges, by giving them the support and sense of community they need.
We focus on creativity, cultivating ongoing, long-term connections, creating a safe space for engagement, and allowing time for just listening.
Look out for our next impact report, coming soon.
The voices of our young people matter. Satellite offers a wide range of free in-person and online programs, workshops, activities, and projects co-designed with young people. Creativity and connection are at the core of what we offer, creating fun spaces for communication and friendship. We combine this with listening to lived experience to address challenges with mental health, and social and emotional wellbeing. We work with young people and their families, available services, practitioners, similar organisations, and the wider community.
Co-creation is the genuine process of involving young people to help shape what we do. We make sure their opinions, concerns and hopes are included, from development to implementation and beyond. We recognise the value of young people’s contributions, and we remunerate them for their expertise and time.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land we live, work and create on, and pay our respects to Elders past and present.
We acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.
Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.
