Research and Development

Using our suite of measures and a global evidence base, we continually test the assumptions around the short and long term impact of our programs and services.

The Marshman Foundation

The Marshman Foundation is a research and development not-for-profit supporting other not-for-profit providers across Australia develop and evaluate youth programs. 

For over 25 years the Marshman Foundation worked in close partnership with Youth Opportunities to develop the Personal Leadership program, provide thought leadership and ongoing support to protect the integrity and fidelity of our programs and services. In 2026, the Marshman Foundation integrated into Youth Opportunities to bring these skills and insight in-house.

We use a range of robust measures to ensure we are achieving the best program outcomes, these include:

  • This scale measures general levels of distress, with indicators for anxiety and depression. The scale is used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. We use two versions: K10 and K5 which reflect the number of questions. K5 has been adjusted for the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and was used to evaluate Accelerate and Activate outcomes.

  • EPOCH is a measure commonly included in Wellbeing Surveys conducted by Departments of Education including the Department of Education SA.

    Using five constructs: Engagement, Perseverance, Optimism, Connectedness, and Happiness, EPOCH is a validated adaptation of the PERMA framework of positive psychology and is specifically designed for adolescents. The five constructs are characteristics that foster wellbeing and psychological health into adulthood.

  • Levenson’s Locus of Control (LoC)* assessment measures a psychological concept that refers to the degree to which people believe that they have control over the events and outcomes of their lives, as opposed to external forces, such as chance or other people. Having an internal LoC is strongly associated with taking responsibility for your life and is a direct measure of Personal Leadership.

Using our suite of measures and the global evidence base, the Marshman Foundation continually test the assumptions around the short and long term impact of our programs and services. This is represented in our Theory of Change, which articulates how and why we create social impact.

Our programs and services are developed based on extensive research in the fields of:

  • Positive psychology

  • Cognitive psychology

  • Behaviour therapy

  • Habit formation and neuroscience

  • Developmental psychology

  • Transformational learning theory

  • Personal development theory

  • Motivational theory

  • Philosophy

The Personal Leadership Program is recognised as an effective, evidence-based mental health and wellbeing program and is listed in both the:

Youth Participation Framework

Creating pathways for young people to lead, collaborate, and influence real outcomes.

At Youth Opportunities, young people are at the heart of all that we do. We believe that all young people deserve the opportunity to be their best and have their voice heard.

The Youth Participation Framework offers opportunities for youth voices to be considered in shaping aspects of our programs, decisions and culture. It reflects our belief that young people bring valuable perspectives that can strengthen our work.

“The Youth Participation Framework you are about to read is written with the aim of supporting other young people to participate in real and practical ways, to improve the services they receive and their own ability to reach out and lead in their communities. Co-design is about mutual benefit – listening, learning, and growing.  

This Framework is an example of just that, Youth Opportunities welcoming the knowledge and skills of young people and creating a document that aims to make future participation and engagement more effective for everyone involved.”

– Lou Potter, Youth Opportunities Program Graduate and Framework Co-Author 

Check out the framework here:

Youth Participation Framework

"Planning and writing this Youth Participation Framework with Youth Opportunities has been a reminder of just what young people can do when we are given an equal seat at the table. This framework aims to support other young people to participate in real and practical ways, to improve the services they receive and their ability to lead in their communities. Co-design is about mutual benefit - listening, learning, and growing. This framework is an example of just that, Youth Opportunities welcoming the knowledge and skills of young people and creating a document that makes future participation and engagement more effective for everyone involved."


Lou Potter, a Youth Opportunities Program Graduate and Framework Co-Author