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I don't know about anyone else, but I think the most important thing that I want to see in a National Strategy for young people is the VOICE of young people.

So young peeps out there ... here's your chance ... get involved in the convo - otherwise the National Strategy might only have the voice and thinking of the not-so- young people in Canberra!

Wow...to quote Janice 'this is kind of a big deal'!  This is a fantastic opportunity for folks to get involved in determining what this new strategy looks like. 

Me?  I'd love to see the federal government acknowledge that young people are not a homogenous group.  Each young person brings special skills and experience, but some require special support and attention due to their life experiences.  For example, young people who take on caring responsibilities - these young people play an important role in supporting those who have a chronic illness, disability or drug and alcohol problem. 

If I could tell the Minister anything, I would love nothing more than to tell him the following story:

Back in 2004, I was in highschool and was lucky enough to be selected to go to Canberra for the National Youth Parliament which was a jointly funded program of the Federal Government and the YMCA.

The National Youth Parliament was an apartisan, non-factional body made up of young people from around Australia who authored their own bills, debated them, made up our own minds about the value of the proposed law -- and voted accordingly.

The 'bills' were then presented to the Prime Minister, Minister for Youth, the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate -- for their consideration.

This was easily one of the best civics education progams available in Australia. Young people from all walks of life learnt about how Government works -- and learning a little about themselves and their beliefs in the process.

However, after 2004, the program's funding dried up. The Minister for Youth (Larry Anthony) said that it was to put funding into the Prime Minister's Youth Roundtable. The Roundtable according to Senate Estimates, spent more money on PR than on implementing young people's recommendations -- and most of the recommendations were already Liberal Party policy.

I understand that this is not in the Minister's portfolio, but I would ask the Minister to please talk to Kate Ellis about funding the program again.

That way the Government can have a regular annual dialogue with young people, instead of just a once-off on the ReachOut.com forums (as awesome as this is).

Interesting ideas Matthew!

Alrighty... I would love to see the Government recognise the skills and experiences that Young People bring with them and that each Young Person brings different skills and experiences with them (like Michelle!).

I think there needs to be more effort put into certain areas however, areas like young carers, youth mental health and youth access to health - particularly in rural areas.

I'm a Young Person who lives in a rural area. I battle along each day with a few different diagnosed mental illnesses and I used to have to travel (and still do) 3 and a half hours to get treatment and support that I could afford. Now we have a local Headspace site however, they have had to stop taking on new clients because they do not have enough money to be able to expand their services (I'm a Headspace YA as well). Neither of these situations are positive for a Young Person at all.

Also I believe that something has to be done to look at how many Young People are homeless or live under the poverty line. Living off less than $100 a week to pay all bills, food, accommodation, petrol etc. because I'm apparently ineligble for youth allowance is a joke - and I know I'm not the only young person that is in this situation. A Young Person can not develop positively unless they are able to not have to worry about whether they can afford food next week, whether they will have a roof over their heads that night.

I have no idea how any of that answers the questions... but I guess my main points are; I'd love to strategy to include more access to mental health, money to be able to live, initiatives to be put in place to help combat the increasing rates of youth homelessness and access to health services in rural areas. Also that each Young Person is different, has different experiences and skills and that Young People have a voice :)

Also - to add on to something that Mathew said. I know the AYF exists - I've attended YOUTHink events - but I think something more needs to be done to consult with and engage the Young People of Australia.

- Jen :)

@ JoD. Thanks for the comments

@ Jen. I know that the AYF exists too, but I don't think it offers the same wholistic experience as the National Youth Parliament (NYP) did for a number of reasons.

1. NYP was run by a non-political not-for-profit, so it was free from government control and interest. It was allowed to be it's own free thinking institution.

2. NYP brought together people from across Australia for a week of intensive communication, discussion, and debate. It was as valuable for the personal sharing of stories, and network building as it was for anything else.

3. NYP built skills of young people, so they could take their ideas back home and work to lobby for the change they wanted to see. NYP helped developed public speaking skills and confidence in a crew of people who might have not normally engaged in politics in this manner -- particularly those who are intimidated by 'party politics'.

... I could go on and on...

:)

@Mathew: I totally agree with you there! :) I don't believe that the AYF necessarily contributes to the positive development of Young People, just from my experiences from participating in AYF events.

I'd also like to see the Government engage Young People in different ways. Not just through AYF but through face-to-face events, through more online discussions with RO and the like etc.

Hi everyone!

Today i attended one of the National Youth Stratefy Events at Parliament House focusing on youth with a disablity and youth from non english speaking backgrounds.
I was so intrigued by the passion and committment being shown by those in attendence! I really encourage you all to try to get involved in any way possible! Even host your own event, Im sure some of you might even be suprised by the really compelling stuff some of your freinds might have to say!

I find Jen's comment about the AYF really interesting and will definately take that on board ans back to the AYF as I am a Steering Committee member. I hope these new strategies as well as the work we are doing will help to push us into the more active direction you are looking for.

(:

@Sandrine29: sounds like today's event was pretty awesome!

One of the main things about my point above is the way in which the youthink events run. From my experience Young People didn't get to necessarily discuss the issues and points they wanted to get across in the topics as it was more of a "state your issue and we will write it down and report back to the Minister", even then, Young People didn't get the chance to put out what was important to them about the topic - I hope that kinda makes sense! :)

I think that the fact that we have all these youth forums that the government says they listen to is great, it really is-but I just don't think its really being all that effective.

What I would love to see is the government trying to set up some kind of NGO or non-biased body that aims to get youth interested and involved in politics. The way that these youth forums work, the only people that really go are the ones that are already interested, and that's normally because of their parents or their education.

If we could see more youth actually becoming aware of the political processes that affect them and what it all means would be excellent. At the moment we just see Kevin Rudd's media machine pulling in young people because he trys to look 'cool' by using social networking sites, and even programs such as this, where the government says they are going to listen to what is said. Here young people are just blindly following whatever looks 'popular' at that point in time, and get so caught up in that that they don't actually bother to pay attention to or understand the actual hard policy that is being enacted.

That's why I think the government really needs an initiative to start getting youth interested in and understanding politics.

young ordinary Australians doing extraordinary things with thier life..is what inspires a nation!
Qualities such as determination, perseverance, enthusiasm and committment can cause a 'domino effect' to those around that individual.
A strategy the government should be using is putting more emphasis on young Australians shining these qualities everyday of their lives.
Is it the young Australians that are the future isn't it? The ones that need words of affirmation to persevere in the difficult times. To be reminded that difficult times WILL come but to know they WILL get through it with the helping hand of the community.

I have no idea why I think this will work but I will try again. I have tried writing letters, emailing, networking government for 2 years now with no success (unless you include recieving generic letters back as success).

I'm 22 and I'm passionate about prevention of violence in young peoples own relationships and so I should, its my job. I'm sick of seeing money go to programs that are made to prevent violence in adult relationships, or violence against children rather than recognising that the majority of victims of violence in romantic relationships are young women themselves. It isn't of a silent nature, it isn't behind closed doors. It's quiet public and embedded in the social realm.

The Howard government has scrapped a campaign that had already cost the government $2 million aimed at stopping violence in young peoples relationships. This government will probably just ignore it. We will never prevent violence until we look at violence in relationship where it starts, which with very little irony is the same place where people learn to develop romantic relationships, in their youth.

AND non of this one day, whole school program rubbish. That's not how you get people to change attitudes, that's a free day out of class. There are programs out there in NSW and VIC that are actually multiple workshop programs but hey they cost money so lets fund the cheap ineffective option.

May I say I was a lot nicer in my letters at the beginning of last year. Now I know I'm not going to be heard. Domestic violence in relationships may cost Australia 2 million per person in rehabilitating the victims, but the government won't fund an effective solution because more short term project means more ongoing recogintion

I think I can add my 2c in here

In terms of Strategy I think government needs to realise that young people have a very real contribution to make to what is seen as "non-youth issues". For example it is the debt that is created today that will affect our capacity to provide social services when we are running the country in a decades time. Almost every area of policy directly affects young people in Australia, either now or in the future.I feel more needs to be done, especially this government which has been all talk and no action. A good example is to look at the result of the youth 2020 summit where few ideas had even been looked and considered.

In previous posts there seems to be a lot of disparaging comments made about politicians here. So I would just want to point out that the generation most of the politicians come from is a generation of talking, and I feel that our generation is a generation of acting. I think one of the things a lot of us need to realise is there is a merit in talking (and I don't feel that our generation does it as much as we should), and there is merit in acting (you can't effectively act until you have had a detailed discussion about what is needed and what you are trying to do). It just highlights the intergenerational differences that exists and the paradigm that youth will have to work through for real policy change.

So its time to play it on the older generations terms and beat them - as young people we need discuss issues but propose pragmatic solutions to those issues. I know Ministers and Shadow Ministers are receptive to new ideas and good policy - so make sure your views are known. For example, writing a letter about your local MP outlining how bad the history curriculum is may get you a standard response, but proposing a solution to that problem will differentiate yourself from the hundreds of other letters that a politician receives each day. Politicians from all sides are looking for pragmatic policy to sell at the next election, and that ultimately has to come from the people, its up to young people to step up to the plate.

Politicians love good, well-written policy, so come up with a coherent policy document in the form of a motion and supporting evidence and send it to your local MP, the Minister and the Shadow Minister (but make sure you are writing to the right level of government)... They do actually care and are genuinely interested in constituent concerns (I'm talking about all sides here).

Too many political problems in this country are not addressed because people don't voice their concern in the right forum.

Furthermore, I'd encourage people to act inside of their communities. This could be voicing a new policy idea at a progress meeting, or setting up your own litter clean up in your local school. Not everything needs to be done by the government, and in some cases it is good to not have the government involved.

However, get out and be active! It only takes one to change the world!

Hi @ Eliza WW, not sure whether you have already made a submission but the Senate is currently undertaking an enquiry into the impact of violence on young Australians.  More info can be found here: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/fchy/youthviolence/hearings.htm

@JordanL - do you have any ideas about how government could make policy accessible and relevant for young people?