Page 1111 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 5 April 2016
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Centre in doing this to ensure that our Muslim community feels connected and empowered is something that we as a community should be immensely proud of, and I look forward to seeing the outcomes of those workshops.
One well-established mechanism for promoting the views and contributions of young people is the Minister’s Youth Advisory Council. This council provides young people with an opportunity to take a leading role in participation and consultation activities on issues that affect their lives. The council’s current work plan identifies three broad priorities, including gender and sexuality, youth homelessness and drugs and alcohol. The council aims to reduce stigma and misconceptions about LBGTIQ youth, to improve education and support pre-existing organisations in order to create a more educated and accepting society.
The council also aims to raise awareness of youth homelessness, to reduce the stigma attached to it and to encourage support for service providers, and this includes supporting events focusing on youth homelessness, such as the Canberra Community Sleepout and Youth Homelessness Matters Day.
I am also pleased to provide information on how the better services local services network in the west Belconnen area is responding to the needs of local young people. Young people have told us that they want more access to information in schools, local job networks and employment opportunities, and leadership development programs for young people.
Even a cursory glance across fields such as sports, arts and business, education and volunteering will provide evidence of the role that young people play in these areas. This is why the government supports initiatives that aim to involve young people in the community with a particular focus on creating an inclusive community. There has been a strong history of this government supporting young people.
Very early in its term, the government released the youth InterACT strategy that focuses on 12 to 25-year-olds. It provides activities and strategies for their engagement across the community. There are a number of grants that form part of the youth InterACT initiative that have a strong emphasis on youth participation and encouraging young people to develop, implement and facilitate youth-focused projects.
Those grants are in addition to other grants such as the Audrey Fagan enrichment grants, which are targeted at local young women aged between 12 and 18 years. Those enrichment grants are another way the government continues to develop opportunities for young women.
The health of any community depends on the support for its young people. That is why it is so important that we listen to what they are telling us. It is not just a case of listening; with the leaders in this place, we need to act on what they are telling us. It is a commitment that I am pleased to affirm here today. As various activities occur in this city through National Youth Week and other activities, I encourage everyone to be involved. They are our future leaders and we need to give them the due respect that they deserve.
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