Page 1675 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 1 April 2009
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conferences. It is anticipated that up 200 young people will be in attendance at this year’s conference, themed “Redefine 09”. The conference is focused on generating discussion on issues that impact on young people, and promoting youth inclusion, participation and feedback to government on issues of importance. Forum topics that will be addressed at this year’s conference include cyber-bullying, binge drinking culture, mental health and wellbeing, the perception of youth in the media, and “environment—a climate for change”. The Youth Advisory Council then reports the outcomes of the Youth InterACT conference to me. The Youth InterACT conference and outcomes reports clearly have streamlined our approach and improved our responsiveness to the needs of young people.
The Youth InterACT initiatives also consist of a Youth InterACT website, which is a participation focused website and is really the primary source of information about Youth InterACT programs. It allows young people in the territory to have the opportunity to participate in forums, to contact me, to apply for Youth InterACT scholarships and grants and to contact the Youth Advisory Council. An average of about 700 young people are currently registered on the website consultation register.
This, of course, is not the only way that we seek to engage with young people and it is not the only way that I seek to engage with young people. For example, I will be available this evening live online on Facebook so that young people can ask questions and have a discussion live over Facebook Chat. Young people have also been given the opportunity to pose questions directly to me via the Youth InterACT website. The website’s consultation register allows young people to express their interest in participating in consultation activities. Members of the register are notified about the range of consultation opportunities that are available and regularly receive information about youth issues and events.
Another aspect of Youth InterACT is to highlight young people’s achievements and to build on their own personal and professional development. This is accomplished through the Young Canberra Citizen of the Year awards, and the Youth InterACT scholarships and grants. The Young Canberra Citizen of the Year awards were announced on Friday, 27 March. Ms Burch had the pleasure of representing the government and me at that event, as I was detained on another matter. This coincided with the launch of National Youth Week in the territory.
These awards recognise young people who have made a contribution to the ACT community through their personal efforts, highlighting young people’s desire to achieve and to be actively involved in their community. As Ms Hunter has indicated, Daisy Sanders was the recipient of the Young Canberra Citizen of the Year award. She was recognised for her active participation in the Canberra community in volunteering, raising money for charities and involvement in sport and cultural arts. I add that Ms Sanders is a very impressive young lady who also received a number of awards at the BSSS awards at the end of last year, upon completion of her year 12 studies. There is no doubt that she is a fantastic representative of young people in Canberra.
The major sponsor of these awards is Community CPS Australia, who provide the prize money in each of the categories. There are three other awards. The personal
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