New Youth Advisory Council members meet at Charlton
10 members of the new North Central Youth Advisory Council (YAC) met at Charlton last weekend for their inaugural gathering, with young people from St Arnaud, Donald, Wycheproof, Charlton and Wedderburn represented.
This was a chance for Council Members to help co-design what the Youth Council could become by identifying issues, projects, people they would like to meet, and skills they would like to develop over the next 12 months.
Spending the day with the Council members was North Central LLEN Executive Officer Jane Hosking who welcomed the opportunity to hear what they were interested in pursuing over the next 12 months, particularly as we begin the recovery process from Covid-19.
“The contributions from the new Council Members around their vision for the new Council were really great – it was wonderful to hear their insights and they had obviously thought about what they wanted to achieve,” she said.
YAC Member Noah Slater from Corack said he welcomed the opportunity to meet other like-minded people and find out more about the opportunities that may be available through the Youth Advisory Council, as well as the influence the YAC may have on policies that impact young people.
“I am keen to get involved in a range of initiatives including Heywire and Victorian Youth Parliament as well as tackle some of the issues we discussed during the day such as climate change, mental health, and more opportunities for north central youth,” he said.
The Gathering was facilitated by the NCLLEN’s Communications and Engagement Officer Julie Slater who helped the group co-design their Charter to guide them over the next 12 months including why they existed – to make a difference and create change, ensure youth voice is presented and heard, to put ideas into action, to break down barriers and to learn new skills.
Ms Slater said the group also discussed how often they would like to meet and where, what they would focus on, and how they will operate as a collective with the group keen to travel across the region to get to know the region better.
“Another important item on the Agenda was to develop values that would underpin the work of the Council where - after much conversation – the group agreed on five core values: open-mindedness, integrity, commitment, inclusion, and excellence,” she said.
“Team building activities rounded out the day, bringing out the competitive edge in some participants as well as lots of laughs as the group members got to know each other,” said Ms Slater.
The group will meet again on Tuesday 15 December via ZOOM, and face to face at the end of January 2021. There are still a few places available on the North Central YAC, so we encourage anyone aged between 15 and 21 interested in joining to contact Julie Slater on 0409 983 270, email ncllen@ncllen.org.au, or download an application form from the North Central LLEN website - http://www.ncllen.org.au/youth-advisory-council.html.