Josh Brown is a proud Narungga and Ngarrindjeri man living and working in Mparntwe (Alice Springs), having lived in remote communities across the central desert prior to this. He is a driven advocate for youth justice and his lived experience as a young Aboriginal man being caught in the system until he was 18, as well as his time in community (particularly in Yuendumu) has fuelled his trajectory into advocacy. For Josh, this began as a writer – expressing his hopes for young people and his frustrations with the system through poetry. He then worked as a Cultural Mentor at the Alice Springs Youth Detention Centre, including work with the Owen Springs Education Centre, before it was disappointingly closed. Understanding the importance of mental health for our young people, Josh currently works as Youth Worker for Headspace. He also serves as the Co-Chair of Central Australian Youth Justice and the Co-Chair of the Youth Services Alice Springs Committee. Among many aspirations he is driven to reduce detention of young people, bring kids back home, start working under therapeutic models of care and send the message out that “bored kids aren’t criminals”.