Youth Parliament online

Since 1987, YMCA Victoria Youth Parliament has brought together over 100 young people every year.

These young people are passionate about social justice and our Youth Parliament program gives them a platform to be heard at the highest levels of the Parliament in Victoria. The program exists to give young people a voice in a space where they traditionally aren’t represented (in age or identity), with the majority of participants bringing forward solutions to some of our greatest and most prevalent issues.

Participants

Last year saw our most diverse cohort yet. Participants identified as:

REPRESENTATION 66%

Female

44%

Male

50%

Metro

50%

Regional/ Rural

Low-SES THE YOUNG PEOPLE IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES AS:

LGBTQI+

The process

The process of bill development and formation to sitting at Parliament House usually spans around six months. Due to the pandemic, last year was the first time the program was delivered entirely online and this process lasted nearly 10 months. This didn’t diminish the passion, drive and voice of the participants who were all still given a platform to have their ideas championed. This was facilitated by the program’s incredible volunteer Taskforce, with support from the Victorian Electoral Commission, Parliament House and The Office for Youth and Equality.

The results

In the past year, YMCA Victoria Youth Parliament has had: • 18 meetings with Members of Parliament, Department staff and industry leaders to help teams develop their bills.

• 18 bills submitted to the Minister for Youth for government consideration.

Moving forward

The pivot in delivery to a virtual program inadvertently provided avenues for us to make YMCA Victoria Youth Parliament more accessible and effective going forward. We hope this will provide even more inspired young people with the opportunity to use their voice to enact change.

Having disability

40% 41%

Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

10%

2%

CALD

43%