Page 4223 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 21 September 2010
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and increase education participation, engagement and achievement of children and young people.
The children and young people of today are the leaders and the community of tomorrow. They will be the ones who are here to enjoy the benefits of the services and frameworks that we put in place and they know what they want. Engaging with them and hearing their views is a critical part of planning for Canberra’s future. I thank Ms Le Couteur for the opportunity to discuss this by bringing the MPI to us today.
The importance of consultation was recognised in the ACT young people’s plan 2009-14. That plan was developed in close collaboration with young people, expressed in over 450 submissions and 10 consultation forums. Five key priorities were identified: health, wellbeing and support; families and communities; participation and access; transitions and pathways; and environment and sustainability. We know from listening to young people what they value, what issues they are interested in and what concerns them.
This government has also developed a robust plan to regularly engage with young people. It is called the Youth InterACT strategy. This strategy comprises components including the Youth Advisory Council, the Young Canberra Citizen of the Year awards, the Youth InterACT consultation register, the Youth InterACT website, the Youth InterACT conference and the Youth InterACT scholarships and grants program. Youth InterACT demonstrates the ACT government’s commitment to involving and consulting with young people from a diverse range of backgrounds and experience. It encourages them to have their say about youth issues in Canberra and to be actively involved in their communities and with government.
The Youth Advisory Council comprises up to 15 young people aged 12 to 25 years from diverse backgrounds and experiences. As a result of a recent recruitment process, I will shortly be appointing nine new members to that council. I look forward to listening to them and hearing the rest of the council’s views about the issues that matter for young people in our community.
The role of council members includes providing me with advice on matters relating to young people. The council consults widely with young people in the ACT through community-based forums, open meetings in the community, the online youth website, the annual youth InterACT conference and the Youth InterACT consultation register. The council has held a number of forums where it has engaged with young people on topical issues, such as youth homelessness, youth debt and young people and the law. They have also held open meetings in the city, Belconnen and Tuggeranong regions.
The Youth Advisory Council also has a key role in the annual Youth InterACT conference, which was held in April this year. The council identifies issues to be discussed at the conference and co-facilitates forums. The conference strongly promotes youth participation. There has been a steady increase in participation over the last three years, with over 200 young people attending this year. The theme of this year’s conference was “live it loud”. The focus was on generating discussion about issues that impact on young people and which foster inclusion and participation of all young people in our community. Forum topics included “drive alive”, “inclusive
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