14-year-old Tyler volunteers with Care for Hedland Environmental Association across a range of programs, including turtle monitoring, litter clean-ups, Containers for Change, and the Tidy Towns initiative.
He first got involved through his sister, who began volunteering with the organisation when the family moved to South Hedland. He’s been showing up ever since.
Tyler is passionate about Care for Hedland’s turtle monitoring program, where volunteers spend hours monitoring threatened turtles during nesting and hatchling season and capture critical data for conservation purposes. The data is used not only to monitor the species’ population, but also to guide management of turtle nesting areas of the town.
His story is one of many celebrated during National Youth Volunteer Week (10–16 August 2026), which recognises young people already leading, protecting and creating change in their communities.
Volunteering WA’s State of Volunteering Report found 78.2% of under-25s in WA are involved in some form of volunteer work, which is among the highest rates of any age group. The same report also found that nearly two thirds of WA residents aged 15 years and over contributed to the community as volunteers. That’s 1.5 million volunteers; a powerful force for good.
Children who get involved in volunteering before age 13 are around 28% less likely to experience poor mental health later in life. Kids who show prosocial behaviours, such as small acts of kindness or looking out for others, are 11% less likely to experience mental ill-health.
For Tyler, volunteering is a great activity for making friends and contributing towards conservation in South Hedland.
“I enjoy meeting new people and helping the environment,” said Tyler.
“It would be good for other young people to try volunteering — you get to learn about the environment and how to help it thrive.”
