Representing Young Australians
March 2, 2009
St Joseph's Nudgee College Year 11 students Julian Tonino and Allister Harrison recently shared their thoughts as part of the first ever Australian Youth Forum event youTHINK.
The Australian Youth Forum is a Federal Government initiative that aims to engage young people (aged 15 – 24), and the organisations that support them, in on-going public discussion.
It is also about getting youth's input into policy and decision making on issues that affect young people's lives.
Julian and Allister attended the Forum on the recommendation of Nudgee College teacher Stella Chan, who thought they would make good candidates because of their debating background and good ideas.
"The Forum was rewarding because it felt like the organisers were listening to our opinions and would actually use them," Julian said.
"They were very emphatic that our opinions do matter," Allister said.
The Forum, hosted by Minister for Youth Kate Ellis, consisted of 1,000 young Australians, who gathered in ten cities across the country, coming together via satellite and sharing their ideas on "Violence and Safety" and "Contributing to our Democracy".
Every capital city was represented, as were Cairns and Alice Springs.
Master of Ceremonies and Video Hits host Fuzzy began the event which also featured presentations by Young Australian of the Year Jonty Bush and speakers from other youth related organisations.
"Sydney began by asking questions and we then had an hour to discuss between ourselves in the Brisbane group what we thought about each topic. We then responded with what we thought. All ideas were written down and will be sent to Minister Ellis," they said.
Julian and Allister said they believed it was a success, given this was the first event of its kind, with Minister Ellis reminding participants that this was only the very beginning of the role that Australian youth have to play in our modern society.
"Overall, it was a great opportunity for Allister and I, with our peers, to 'have our say' and represent young people in contributing our ideas and our opinions to, hopefully, help provide future opportunities for many school and university students in Australia," Julian said.