About us
Dean Logan - Founder / National Director YAM
“I was building houses at the age of 14 with my Uncle and started my apprenticeship as a Carpenter / Joiner at the age of 15. At the age of 27 I was running underground mining operations and then went to university as a mature aged student. I studied commerce, but soon found my passion at the University of Tasmania School of Government and Public Policy; under the guidance of Professor Richard Herr and Dr Tony McCall.
“Invited into the National Honours Program for academic excellence, I successfully secured a place at the Australian National University - School of Pacific Studies and Economics - in Canberra. This led to a 20 year career in Canberra as an academic and senior policy adviser / analyst.
“Since then I have taken over complex companies throughout Australia and New Zealand and delivered millions of dollars of projects for the likes of Tattarang Private Equity.
“My passion is Public Policy and a dream to deliver a platform free of jaded opinions and politics. A platform delivered in such a way that young Australians can understand our content and feel invigorated and excited about their future.
“I genuinely feel for many young Australians who struggle with the modern political environment. It’s made complex on purpose; by political actors and their parties, that many simply no longer trust.
“So, with this in mind, rather than complain about it, we set out with a group of amazing individuals to design and build a sophisticated yet extremely refreshing platform. We take all this complexity and noise and simplify it; in a way young Australians - and those young at heart - understand. We want YAM to inspire you as you drink your morning coffee, or travel to school, university or work on the train. Moreover, we will be a trusted source within an ever complex and changing world.
“But more importantly, our hope as a team, is that this platform not only gives you the tools to weed out the nonsense, but the inspiration and voice to come up with ideas that are game-changing.
“It’s time to start believing again.
“So don’t let the system jade you.
“We can deliver an amazing legacy for our children’s children. But that process starts with knowledge and that’s where YAM comes in.
“I truly do hope you enjoy the Young Australian Movement journey. This movement is totally about and totally for you!”
Kind regards
Dean Logan
Neutrality
Tired of politics? Yeah so were we. So rather than get caught up in the nonsense we decided to sit outside of the political environment to make sense of it all for you. But we do so with an unequivocal commitment to being 100% independent of any group, actor, politician, corporate entity or political party. This is reinforced by the fact that none of our staff, academics or writers are a current member of a political party. You’re not interested in our prejudices. All you seek, and deserve, is a fresh approach that you understand and trust.
Transformative
Whilst we explain and translate complex policy in a way you understand and through a standardised and consistent format, we also have an entire division of YAM where we allow YOU to propose solutions. This is what we call our Projects Team. In here we take complex ideas, condense them down and propose solutions. We believe it’s crucial to sit outside of the political ‘bubble’ where actors criticism each other’s ideas for no apparent reason. To the contrary, we take a transformative approach and ask the ‘…why not?’ For example, who around the world does it better and what can we learn from them? And are there policy designs /solutions that are not only transformative, but that provide a brighter more prosperous future?
Young at Heart
Whilst we are driven by young Australians, YAM is a home for anyone who is YOUNG AT HEART.
Our first ever paid member was Neville from Bunbury in Western Australia. Neville is a navy veteran and loved the YAM concept so much, he signed up. Neville is 82 years old.
Positive and Fresh
The world is becoming complex and then you overlay this with constant negativity. It’s draining. But why is it so hard to develop a positive, vibrant and fresh political voice? At YAM we have a clear mandate to present our analysis, policy and associated solutions in a positive light. We know many young Australians have had a ‘gut full’ of politics and just want a fresh, vibrant and accurate assessment of what is really going on. Moreover, you want to know what the FUTURE looks like. This is why we promise never to criticise an opposing person, political party, or politician. We will always play the issue not the person and in doing so, provide the policy leadership and vision you all deserve.
Quality
We DO NOT secure our information from the media. We have our own trained policy analysts and academics who are practical, clever and dedicated to providing you with clarity. We standardise our analysis to ensure consistency, accuracy and to deliver a quality outcome that’s thought provoking. It takes quality work behind the scenes to convince you to think about things differently, and to potentially change the way you see the world.
Representation
When it comes to picking those to represent the YAM brand at an election, we will be starkly different to any other political party. We select based on merit, passion, integrity and your ability and willingness to represent your electorate in the YAM WAY. WE DON’T DO ‘boys clubs’ and and don’t pick representatives based on someone being a friend of a friend. If you have the commitment to have a GO, and are a dedicated TEAM PLAYER we’ll back you in. The only thing we ask is that if you’r elected to represent YAM, then you stay with YAM or you relinquish your position totally.
Ease of Navigation
We have separated the policy environment into ‘Portfolios’ to provide a platform that is easier to navigate based on topic, or your specific interests. We will always be adding portfolios based on feedback but you’ll find the access and layout will never change. Not only is it easy to navigate our website, the analysis from the very start is identically presented and easily understood.
Get Involved
We’re a grass roots movement driven and run by young Australians. Yes we have strict rules - we must do to maintain discipline, otherwise we’ll be all going off on tangents and YAM will become a basket case overnight. That can’t and will not happen. In saying this, you drive the movement: it’s YOUR FUTURE so reach out if you would like to get involved. And before you second guess yourself: you don’t have to be a policy guru. We’re not after young ‘political cartoon characters’, we want team players who are passionate about changing the future.
How is policy designed, structured and implemented?
Policy is a science. We study it at school and in universities. It’s a complex stand-alone field that is often diluted by various actors who have influence, power or motive. We elect politicians in essence to be the ‘policy actors’. They guide, shape and design policy - rightly or wrongly - and move on to allow others to take their place. But they are the face of what we call the ‘policy cycle’.
Before you delve into the analysis, take some time to read our POLICY 101 page. We guarantee after you do, you will never view the political system and the word ‘POLICY’ the same again.