Ciaralink Projects · Made in Kensington 3031
Ciaralink Projects is a suburb scoped, safeguarded marketplace where teenagers and NDIS participants create real local micro businesses, join community projects and build a verifiable skills Passport. Our founding pilot, Made in Kensington 3031, sits at the heart of an inner north west network of suburbs opening around it.
The problem in front of us
We do not have a shortage of good young people. We have a shortage of the connective tissue between a young person's interest and a real, safe, local chance to act on it. The evidence is clear, and it is worse for young people with disability.
Employment among NDIS participants aged 15 to 24 has recently doubled, from 10 per cent to 22 per cent, which is genuine progress. Even so, it means roughly four in five are not yet in work. Too many young people are treated as passive recipients of services rather than contributors with something to offer.
Source: NDIS, employment participation doubles for young participants, ages 15 to 24.Young people with disability are treated hurtfully online more often than other young people, about 60 percent compared with 45 percent. The online world they are pushed toward is not a safe substitute for local belonging.
Source: eSafety Commissioner, young people and online experiences.Teenagers, especially those with disability, have almost nowhere safe and local to earn their first income and build a verifiable record of what they can do. Advocates are calling for exactly this.
Source: CYDA submission to the Department of Social Services, 2025.How we answer it
A resident opens Ciaralink Projects on their phone, we detect their suburb, and instead of a directory we show meaningful things they can join, create, buy from and accomplish this week, close to home. Four things work together.
Young people and participants list real products and services and earn when they sell. They keep what they earn.
Supported teams to join: a cafe crew, a media team, a garden and market crew, all abilities welcome.
Every project, skill and endorsement is recorded. Over time it becomes evidence worth more than a resume.
Part of platform income is reinvested locally in equipment, transport and scholarships for creators who cannot afford them.
Real examples from the founding Kensington dataset, each carrying a visible trust status:
A 14 year old creator baking boxes to order with mum on weekends, from $24.
Wheelie bins washed, deodorised and put back on collection day, $15 a bin.
Barista, food handling and customer service skills in a supported, inclusive kitchen.
Grow food together on wheelchair height beds and run the Saturday produce stall.
Safeguarding is the product
Because teenagers and vulnerable people use the platform, safety is engineered into the foundation, not added later. We align voluntarily with the four regulators councils already recognise. A human approves every listing involving a minor, no adult can privately message a young person, and every payment involving a person under 18 goes to their verified parent or guardian, never to the child.
The burden of safety should never fall on the user. We assess risk up front, close stranger contact, and engineer misuse out of the product.
Aligned with: eSafety Commissioner, Safety by Design.Working With Children Checks on every adult supervising minors, with expiry tracked, and online environments covered explicitly.
Aligned with: Victoria's Child Safe Standards.Ciaralink Projects never stores your ID. Accredited providers verify age and eligibility, we keep only a yes or no, and sensitive inputs are destroyed once used.
Aligned with: OAIC privacy guidance on age assurance.Australia's under 16 online safety age rules, in force from December 2025, expect a layered approach. We adopt one now as a safe posture.
Aligned with: Online Safety Act, Part 4A minimum age regime.A human approves every listing involving a minor before it goes public. The AI can screen and flag risks. The AI cannot approve.
No minor can sell, join a project, be photographed or receive messages until their parent or guardian has consented.
No adult can privately message a young person on Ciaralink Projects. Any adult contact with a young creator is supervised, routed through the guardian, and visible to them.
An honest note on compliance. We say built to meet and voluntarily aligned with, never certified or approved by. We use accredited providers, we are not ourselves an accredited identity provider, and whether we fall under the under 16 regime is a question for Australian legal advice. We align regardless.
Made in Kensington 3031
The founding pilot dataset for Kensington holds nine live listings: five founding creators offering real products and services, plus community projects to join. Around it, the inner north west suburb network opens in rings.
Real local products and services in the pilot dataset.
Supported teams to join. Five flagship projects, four live in the dataset, one in review.
Kensington is the founding community. The suburbs around it open next so families in the inner north west can get involved close to home.
Ciaralink Projects charges a 5 percent platform fee, and only on a successful sale. In the base model creators keep about $2,660 of every $2,800 in sales.
Proof, not anecdote
Every outcome below is captured by the platform, not by story. These are the impact measures we will report through the pilot, so endorsement rests on evidence.
Registrations, attendance, new friendships and connections, and how many people come back.
Skills developed, projects completed, and verifiable Passports recording each young person's record.
Revenue per creator, and the share creators keep. In the base model they keep about $2,660 of every $2,800 in sales.
Pathways into volunteering, further study or employment, tracked as young people move on.
How many NDIS participants take part as creators and team members, with confidence and satisfaction captured.
How much flows back into the community through equipment, transport, materials and scholarships.
Made for NDIS families too
Participants can use their NDIS support to build and run their own micro business. This is a government endorsed, fundable route that fits our mission exactly.
Ciaralink Projects aligns with the NDIS Micro Enterprise Project, and treats young people with disability as contributors, not passive users. Costs are always kept clear and separate.
A respectful ask
The technology alone will not make this succeed. A modest platform with ten excellent Kensington projects, trusted leaders and real outcomes can grow quickly. Four things would make the pilot land.
Back Made in Kensington as a local youth and disability inclusion initiative. Your endorsement is what opens doors.
An introduction to a space that could host projects during quieter hours, for example a Neighbourhood House, hall or cafe.
Introductions through schools, youth services, disability services and NDIS coordinators who should be at the table.
A youth engagement or disability inclusion grant to cover the pilot gap of roughly $2,770, for safety checks, equipment and coordination.
We would rather prove this here in Kensington, with you, before we grow it anywhere else. A short conversation is the best next step.
We would welcome a conversation. Reach the founder at bulent@ciaralink.com.au.