Council & Business
15 August, 2022
Youth council to help identify priority issues
It’s been all about youth in the Central Goldfields Shire of late, with council’s inaugural youth council hitting the ground running since its appointment last month. Thirteen local young people who live, work, study or are connected to the...
It’s been all about youth in the Central Goldfields Shire of late, with council’s inaugural youth council hitting the ground running since its appointment last month.
Thirteen local young people who live, work, study or are connected to the shire were appointed to the youth council late last month in a step towards putting youth and youth issues in the spotlight.
The youth council’s membership comprises teenagers aged between 14 and 17 from Maryborough, Dunolly, Adelaide Lead, Bealiba, Avoca and Newstead.
Anakin Hurley, Annabelle Verdon-Price, Amayah and Safhira Rowe, Benjamin Smith, Elizabeth Lewington, Felix Skilling, Khoa Do, Miller Tranter, Ned Cotter, Silas Knighton-Weire, Talos Adcock and Tiago Santos are the youth council’s inaugural members.
Youth councillors will provide advice to the Central Goldfields Shire Council on plans, policies, strategies and projects so they reflect the needs of young people, engage with local youth to identify priorities, advocate on issues that directly impact young people and provide opportunities for young people to develop as leaders in their communities.
Each of the youth councillors have joined for their own reasons and 16-year-old Ned said he wanted to see improved access to education opportunities.
“I joined the youth council to focus on making sure there are equal educational opportunities here, I think that’s of key importance,” he said.
“Highview and MEC used to exchange students on some days to make sure classes could run when one school didn’t have enough students to run it independently and I think bringing something like that back would benefit the community.”
For 15-year-old Anakin, he joined to give a voice to young people in the community.
“A lot of people I know feel under-represented in this community, myself included, and this is a way to be part of the change I want to see,” he said.
“I think the youth council is a good idea but it can only really work if there’s enough participation from young people and senior council staff as well.
“So far our meetings have all been fairly introductory but we have pinpointed some areas that we’d like to work on like the environment and establishing a youth hub here.
“I’m hoping to get some more knowledge about how council works and make some positive changes in the community.”
Central Goldfields Shire mayor Chris Meddows-Taylor said it was an exciting and important step to establish a youth council.
“It was wonderful to be invited to be on the selection panel for the youth council and to have the opportunity to interview the young people who nominated for this role,” he said.
“Each of these members have thought deeply about the needs of young people, the importance of inclusiveness and belonging and the importance of feeling safe. Many see joining the youth council as an opportunity to put something back into their community.
“I look forward to working collaboratively with this youth council throughout their term.”
The youth council was given the opportunity to meet with Labor’s candidate for Ripon Martha Haylett and Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Victoria Danielle Green last Friday, who presented the youth councillors with the Victorian Youth Strategy.
Both Ms Green and Ms Haylett sat down with youth councillors to hear about local issues impacting young people and Ms Haylett said the voices of youth are important.
“The Youth Strategy ensures that young people’s voices are heard at every level of government,” she said.
“If elected, I will establish a Ripon Youth Council to hear directly from young people about what issues they want addressed across our communities.”
It all comes as last week marked National Student Volunteer Week, which saw the Maryborough Volunteer Resource Centre (MVRC) arrange interviews on Goldfields FM with youth councillors.
MVRC spokesperson Lyn Curry said it was important to promote student volunteerism in the community.
“We often hear that young people don’t involve themselves in community work but we have found that this is not the case,” she said.
“What we have learnt is that many of our youth do offer their time and support to others but do so in a different way compared with the older generation.
“We also think that young people like to work on projects that bring about change and make a difference to peoples lives.”
The Central Goldfields Shire youth council is meeting fortnightly with the current term proposed to run until December 2023, at which point current youth councillors will be required to re-apply if they wish to continue.
The establishment of the local youth council has been funded through the Victorian Government’s Engage! program.