Review of the Byron Street Cruise Program for Byron Shire Council

Status: completed November 2025

Client: Byron Shire Council

Background:

Byron Shire Council has funded the Byron Street Cruise Program since 2001-02, a street-based harm minimisation and outreach service supporting young people in Byron Bay on Friday nights. The program operates through a unique funding arrangement separate from Council's competitive grants and broader youth strategy. Having not been formally reviewed since its inception, Council commissioned Beacon Strategies to provide an independent evidence base to inform future commissioning and implementation decisions.

Approach:

We delivered a place-based evaluation combining desktop research, stakeholder interviews, and analysis of comparable models. Our work examined the program's original intentions and current model, gathered perspectives from service providers, police, schools, and community members on program effectiveness and suitability, and reviewed evidence on what works in street-based youth outreach. We synthesised program data and stakeholder insights to understand how the program has evolved over two decades of operation.

Outcome:

The final deliverable was a comprehensive report containing an evidence base on the program's reach and effectiveness, analysis of how it aligns with Council's strategic priorities, and recommendations and options to guide future commissioning and implementation.

Link to our vision 'a more impactful social purpose sector':

This project supports our vision of a more impactful social purpose sector by equipping Council with the independent evidence they need to make informed decisions about how best to support young people in their community through their strategic remit.

We support local government to evaluate community programs and strengthen evidence-based decision making. Explore more of our work in Program Evaluation here.