Community ProFile

Stakeholders Response

Stakeholders felt there was value in engaging young people with getting involved with the planning and coordination of youth activities as well as seeking their opinion and having their voice heard. They wanted to see the Shire representatives accessing and consulting with youth in youth spaces and also to ensure that young people did have the opportunity to give their opinion and that their views were valued.

7.3 Leadership/Mentoring Youth Response

• Young people saw the opportunity to mentor other young people in sport and also to support leadership development. • Youth mentoring and leadership support was seen to be beneficial in general. As one young person stated ‘youth helping mentor kids and trying to show that someone does care and I think it is important because if you see someone struggling and you help them through it those people will remember that kindness and hopefully do the same when they see another struggling creating a domino effect because even a small act of kindness can make a lot of difference in someone’s life.’ • Some wanted the opportunity to be upskilled and considered for committee positions however they also felt it was essential that were respected as an equal in leadership positions and not bullied because of their age. There was also a suggestion of junior committees. • There was a few comments with regards to being involved with the Council, meetings and decision making as well as having young people representatives (similar to that of a Student Council).

Another suggestion was to have a young person in a paid position to be aware of and represent young people views when making planning decisions etc. • The online Youth Survey asked “What would encourage you to be involved with community leadership?” Young people responded to a list of potential methods by answering ‘Very Important,

Important, Somewhat Important or ‘Not Important’, each of these with a weighted score. Equal first was helping my community and making a better place for young people (2.79); equal second was feeling valued by my community and team work and development (2.57); then develop leadership skills (2.5); catching up with other young people (2.36); and making community decision (2.29).

Stakeholders Response

Stakeholders wanted to see greater participation of youth with the Shire. Suggestions included presentations from youth to Council about their needs, issues and reinvigorating the Youth Advisory Council (YAC). In addition it was important to build their leadership skills so that they could also advocate for their age group/young community.

8. Respect and Inclusion

8.1 Perceptions and Respect Youth Response

• A number of young people felt that they were judged simply because they were youth. When asked what the perceptions of young people were comments included immature, too cheeky, inexperienced, evil, wingers, loud, bad drivers, too young and were often stereotyped. • Young people often felt that that their opinions were not sought and if given or requested were not respected, valued and/or actually heard. • They felt encouraged to respect their elders, however they sometimes felt the respect was not mutual. • There was a couple of comments relating to police where as a young people they did not feel welcomed or respected.

• A few comments suggested that there needed to be more promotion about all the good things young people do and activities they are involved with. • There was a few comments around equality and making everyone feel involved (regardless of age etc.) and not discriminated against. Remembering they are learning by example and that adults often set the standard. • Numerous comments also recognised the Esperance community as respectful, inclusive and youthfriendly. They felt safe, accepted and Esperance was a friendly place to live.

Stakeholders Responses

Mindsets and stereotyping needed to be changed to improve inclusion as a whole, for example young people were excluded within the community due to the reputation of a family name. Respects starts with home life but what if the young person was not respected at home? Also spoke of finding the youth incredibly friendly and respectful in Esperance.

8.2 Inclusion Youth Response

• Numerous young people simply did not have the same opportunities as other young people and were regularly excluded from various activities and opportunities due to costs, access, resources and supports. • There was varied comments around sports clubs where some young people felt very welcomed and part of the team, others had found them clicky and excluded new young members. • Young people from minority groups also needed to be considered and included for examples young people with a disability need to be able to access and enjoy activities; plus young people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community needed to feel welcomed and not isolated or alone.

Stakeholders Response

Felt there was a need to encourage all venues to look at inclusion access standards and supporting community groups with training to support full inclusion. Wanted to see acknowledgement of the indigenous heritage in the community through Indigenous community art. The Nulsen area did not have equal quality space to the rest of the town. Disrespect and exclusion is breed through the fear of the unknown. Affordability and access was important for youth activities.

Below provides a brief statistical summary about the young people in the Shire of Esperance ‘Urban Centre-Locality’ as provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. With the exception of the table at the bottom of this page, all statistics were from the 2011 Census, whereby the table includes 2001 and 2006 Census information.

Note: while the accuracy of the Census statistics could be questioned it is not the intent of this report to do so and information is provided as a general overview only.

Population

• The defined region’s overall population was 9919 (48.9% male and 51.1% female) with the

Indigenous population representing 4.5%. Young people represent 18.933% of the population, almost one fifth. • Comparing the age population of young people against the state the average, the defined region had 1.4% more for the 10 to 14 age group (7.9% compared to 6.5% [WA] respectively); 15 to 19 years had 0.8% + (7.4% to 6.6%[WA]); however 20 to 24 year olds was 1.7% below the WA state average (5.4% to 7.1%[WA])

The table below looks at the population of each youth year and how these have changed over a ten year period; includes the years of 2001, 2006 and 2011.