In collaboration with
Movement program · Trans and gender diverse young people
Move your way, with people who get it.
Youth Moves is a free movement program built for and with trans and gender diverse young people.
Small, all-gender groups. Instructors who work with trans and gender diverse young people every week. No mirrors, and no pressure to look or perform a certain way. Come as you are.
The program
What Youth Moves is
Youth Moves is a 12 week movement program for young people aged 12 to 25. You come along once a week, and sessions are split by age so you are with people around your own stage. It is free to take part.
- Free to join
- 12 weeks, one sessions a week
- Ages 12 to 25, split by age group
- All-gender groups, no mirrors
- Led by instructors experienced with trans and gender diverse young people
What to expect
What a session feels like
Sessions are small and relaxed. You do not need any experience, a particular fitness level, or special gear. Wear something you can move in and turn up.
Instructors set things up so you can join in at whatever pace suits you on the day, and you can sit out anything that does not feel right. The focus is on moving in a way that feels good, not on how you look while you do it.
Who it's for
Who can take part
Youth Moves is for trans and gender diverse young people aged 12 to 25. If you are under 18, a parent or guardian will need to give consent for you to join.
You do not need a referral to register your interest. Many young people first hear about Youth Moves through their gender service, GP, headspace, or a community organisation, and that is a good way in too.
Where and when
Where Youth Moves is running
Youth Moves started in Perth and is expanding to more states through 2026 and 2027. What runs at each site depends on local partners and funding, so it might be a community program, a research trial, or both. Register your interest and the team will tell you what is happening in your area.
Perth, Western Australia
Community sessions delivered by Thriving in Motion, following the completed pilot.
Adelaide, South Australia
Register your interest to hear what is opening and how to take part.
New South Wales
Register your interest to hear what is opening and how to take part.
Melbourne, Victoria
Register your interest to hear what is opening and how to take part.
Getting involved
Register your interest
Register once and the team will get in touch about what is available near you. Registering does not commit you to anything.
- Running nowPerth, WACommunity sessions with Thriving in Motion.
- From mid-September 2026Adelaide, SANoarlunga, Central Adelaide and North Adelaide.
- From January 2027New South WalesRegister to hear what is opening.
- Early to mid 2027Melbourne, VICRegister to hear what is opening.
Prefer to ask a question first? Email youthmoves@thrivinginmotion.org.
Youth Moves sessions are delivered by Thriving in Motion with support from the Australian Government's LGBTIQA+ Health Program.
Your privacy
When you register your interest we collect your name, age, suburb or postcode, and how you would like us to reach you. We use this only to contact you about the Youth Moves program near you.
Your details are held by Thriving in Motion, and the registration form runs on MailerLite. We do not sell your information or share it for marketing. Registering your interest is not signing up to any research.
You can ask to see, change or remove your details at any time by emailing youthmoves@thrivinginmotion.org. If you are under 18, a parent or carer can do this with you.
Co-design and research
Built with community, grounded in research
Youth Moves was designed with the people it is for. It was shaped by young people through the Youth Moves Youth Advisory Group at Thriving in Motion, by qualitative research with trans and gender diverse young people led by Dr Felicity Austin, and by what was learned running the pilot.
That input did not stop at launch. Youth and parent advisory groups still guide how sessions run, and the program is delivered as ongoing research, so what we learn feeds back into how Youth Moves works and where it goes next.
The result is a program that keeps changing in response to the young people in it, backed by published evidence and evaluated as it grows.
Current projects
Youth Moves clinical trial
The main study, part of ARCTYC, a national research consortium funded by the Medical Research Future Fund. It evaluates the affirming movement program across several states, and how best to deliver it.
MHEX and ARCTYC
Youth Moves Connect
Now funded to extend Youth Moves to young people outside the cities, through regional hubs and live online sessions across Western Australia. Developed with MHEX and community partners.
Thriving in Motion and MHEX
The pilot
Where Youth Moves started. Delivered in Perth with the Gender Diversity Service at Perth Children's Hospital, and now published. It is the foundation the current program is built on.
University of Western Australia
The evidence
Why movement, built this way
Trans young people take part in less physical activity than their cisgender peers, and around one in four limit their exercise because of their gender (Austin et al., 2026). Those barriers often trace back to exclusion in sport and school PE, and are linked to mental health concerns (Austin et al., 2024). Before Youth Moves, no affirming movement service like it existed within Australian gender services (Austin et al., 2025). That gap is what the program was built to close.
Read more about the trial on the ARCTYC website.
The published work
- Austin, F. et al. (2024). A scoping review of trans and gender diverse children and adolescents' experiences of physical activity, sport, and exercise participation. Mental Health and Physical Activity. doi.org/10.1016/j.mhpa.2024.100576
- Austin, F. et al. (2025). A therapeutic exercise program for adolescents engaged in gender diversity services: study protocol for a non-randomised clinical trial. Translational Exercise Biomedicine. doi.org/10.1515/teb-2025-0020
- Austin, F. et al. (2026). Exercise experiences of adolescents engaged with gender diversity services: a qualitative approach. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2026.103148
In collaboration with
In South Australia, Youth Moves is being delivered in partnership with SARAA, including co-design and lived-experience facilitator involvement.
People behind Youth Moves
- Dr Felicity Austin (she/her)
- A/Prof Bonnie Furzer (she/her)
- A/Prof Kemi Wright (she/her)
- Ben Quick (he/they)
- Kai Schweizer (he/they)
What it's been like
In the words of young people and families
Starting something new can feel daunting, especially if sport or exercise has not felt safe before. Here is what people have said about the Youth Moves pilot.
"What stands out about the program is the team cares about you as a person, not how you present. It's simply about being human, making friends, having fun and moving together."
"Having a safe space to come to, where I could wear what I wanted, look how I wanted and not be judged at all was amazing."
"This is the first time my child has felt comfortable exercising. Being able to just be themselves without fear of judgement makes all the difference."
In the pilot, every young person surveyed said the facilitators created a safe and inclusive space to exercise. 95% kept coming back across the program, and 93% enjoyed the sessions.
Dr Felicity Austin's feasibility findings from the pilot are being published soon. We will share the full results and a plain-language summary here when they are out.
Good to know
Common questions
Is it free?
Yes. There is no cost to take part in Youth Moves.
Do I have to be in the research study to join?
No. You register your interest once, and the Youth Moves team works out what suits you when you talk. Depending on your area and timing, that might be a community program or a research trial. Taking part in a community program and taking part in a research trial are separate, each with its own consent, and you can do one without the other.
What ages is it for?
Young people aged 12 to 25. Sessions are split by age so you are with people around your own stage.
I'm under 18. Can I join?
Yes, with consent from a parent or guardian.
Do I need to be fit or have any experience?
No. There is no fitness level or experience needed. You set your own pace, and you can sit out anything that does not feel right.
What should I wear or bring?
Something comfortable you can move in. You do not need special gear.
Are the groups all-gender?
Yes. Groups are all- gender.
Where is Youth Moves running?
Perth now, Adelaide from mid-September 2026, New South Wales from January 2027, and Melbourne in early to mid 2027.
Recognition
Awards and recognition
- 2024 AusActive Award for Most Inclusive and/or Diverse Program, Winner
- 2024 ESSA Research to Practice, Practitioner Award, Winner
- 2025 WA Mental Health Award for Diversity and Inclusion, Winner
- 2025 IPAA WA Best Practice in LGBTIQA+ Inclusion, Winner
- 2025 IPAA WA Achievement Award for Excellence in the Not-for-Profit Sector, Thriving in Motion, Winner
- 2026 ESSA Activate, Young Investigator for Exercise Science + Health, Finalist
All Youth Moves sessions are delivered by Thriving in Motion with support from the Australian Government's LGBTIQA+ Health Program.
The research is supported by funding from the MRFF-funded Australian Research Consortium for Trans Youth and Children (ARCTYC; MRF2032119), and Furzer, Austin, Quick and Schweizer are researchers affiliated with ARCTYC.
The MHEX team acknowledges all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Traditional Custodians of Country and recognises their continuing connection to land, sea, culture and community. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.
We are committed to embracing diversity and eliminating all forms of discrimination through education and inclusive communities. We welcome all people and are respectful of individual identities.