Youth Advisory Council group meeting at the ANU. Photo: Nicholas Ward.
Canberra’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC) will now be held annually, Minister for Children, Youth and Families Michael Petterson announced to around 100 young Canberrans assembled for YAC 2025 to discuss the challenges facing their demographic this week.
The minister praised the young audience members, saying he wished he’d taken advantage of initiatives like these when he was young.
“This is an opportunity for the young people of Canberra to come forward, meet as a group, put forward their ideas and recommendations to government today. I’m looking forward to hearing from them, the recommendations that they’ve got to make the ACT a better place,” Mr Petterson said.
Minister Michael Petterson with Co-Chair of the Youth Advisory Council Jemma Rule. Photo: Nicholas Ward.
Co-Chair of the YAC, 20-year-old Jemma Rule, opened the session by praising the attendees and the work that goes into bringing everyone together, saying it was an honour to represent young interests to the government.
“This is an opportunity to really connect with the broader youth population and chat to people from different schools, different universities, different communities, and hear from them.”
This year, the council identified three areas as critical to youth: housing, health and education.
Nairwng Tripura, 16, a third-time representative at the council who has been attending the YAC since she was 13, said these events make a real difference to youth in the city.
“Often times during your day to day there’s a sense that this isn’t going anywhere, that this isn’t going to lead to any change, but we hope the youth assembly creates a space where you are feeling that hopefulness and you are going to be able to make that assumption that your thoughts are going to be put into making real life change.”
Ms Tripura says that there are things that frustrate her about how young people are treated, but she remains optimistic about progress, highlighting a lighting and safety program raised in 2018 that she says resulted in the government installing better lighting at bus stops as a key achievement the youth council has had on the city.
Now she is pushing for more student engagement in what they are taught at school.
“I think there is a little bit of a lack in what students are being taught. There is a neglect of financial literacy. There is a lack of say in what we are actually being taught,” she said.
YAC member Nairwng Tripura standing in front of the Marie Reay building. Photo: Nicholas Ward.
The meeting had many attendees over 25, but the volunteers were quick to step back and let the youth take the lead in speaking.
Leading a deputation of eight red blazer-wearing Radford students, Vice Principal Jane Smith said it’s an incredible experience seeing young people engage like this.
“I think that the youth advisory council really pinpointed the big things that they’re worried about in the future. So they worried about housing, they’re worried about physical health and mental health, and they’re worried about an uncertain future. So I think that opportunities like this bring a sense of control and ownership and agency in terms of the way they go forward in the world,” Ms Smith said.
The Youth Council is a 15-member group comprising young people aged 12 to 25, serving as an advisory body to represent the interests of approximately 80,000 young people in Canberra.
The council works with the minister to recommend policy, legislative changes, or actions that will impact young Australians.
