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Archive for Monday, August 23rd, 2010 05:54 pm GMT +10
Australian Youth Led Convention
Australia’s first Youth Led Convention will bring together the top young leaders from Australia’s preeminent youth led organisations for the first time. Over a weekend in Canberra the attendees will develop and gain valuable skills through high quality workshops delivered by leading professionals in key knowledge areas required for running an organisation.
The Convention has three key aims:
- Develop long term and transferable skills in the senior leaders of youth-led organisations;
- Allow for networking and partnership opportunities between young leaders and the Australian Government; and
- Recognise the work of the Youth Led Sector.
The Convention is a joint project between the Australian Government and the Left Right Think-Tank, Australia’s first think-tank of young minds.
Application Details
Applications are now open for leaders of youth-led organisations or projects within youth-led organisations in Australia to attend the Convention.
Broadly, a Youth-led organisation is one that is run by young people and where young people are the predominant decision makers about the direction and activities of the organisation.
Applications closed on the 3rd September 2010 and the invite list has been announced.
Tell it like it is with Heywire 2010
Heywire – a competition and a space for young people to share their ideas and be heard in the corridors of power.
Enter by 8 October 2010 for a chance to have your voice on the ABC, and win a trip to the prestigious Heywire Youth Issues Forum at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
What is Heywire?
Heywire is an ABC Radio initiative, providing a space for the conversation, stories, debate and ideas of young people from rural and regional Australia.
It’s a COMPETITION…open to people aged 16 – 22 and seeking stories in all forms of media — text, photos, video and audio — about life and issues in Australia outside the major cities. A winner is chosen by each of the 40+ ABC Radio regional broadcast locations across the country. Winning pieces are presented on the ABC through ABC Local Radio, ABC Radio National, triple j and abc.net.au.
It’s a CHANCE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE…winners also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the Heywire Youth Issues Forum in Canberra in February 2011, where they gain leadership skills and have a chance to pitch their ideas to politicians, funding bodies and policy makers.
It’s a TOOL…a resource for parents, teachers, politicians and the wider community to engage young people with the concepts of digital literacy and social media. There are resource guides available for high-school teachers to tie Heywire into their teaching curriculum.
Entries close 8 October 2010. Enter your story now at: abc.net.au/heywire
“Heywire is just amazing, not like anything I’ve ever done before,” says 2009 Heywire winner Amy Rhodes from Concongella in Victoria. “Attending the Heywire Forum I got to meet the most incredible Heywire winners from all over the country and we worked together on solutions to problems in our communities. We met politicians and decision makers and felt that we could really make a difference.”
“Heywire is a chance for young Australians to be heard. Since it began in 1998, over 400 Heywire stories have been broadcast on ABC networks and thousands more have appeared on the Heywire website. Whether they are passionate about mental health care in regional areas, or the thrill of bull riding, young people come to Heywire to debate, exchange ideas and tell the rest of Australia how they see it,” says Leigh Radford, National Editor ABC Rural.
Heywire acknowledges the support of the Australian Government through the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government and the Department of Health and Ageing.
Environmental Policy is a Deal Breaker in the Election
A recent survey conducted by the Left Right Think-Tank sampled 121 young Australians views on the environment. The results of this survey indicated that the area of environmental policy might be a deal breaker in the upcoming Federal election.
Although environmental issues are important to young people in deciding which political party to vote for, there were high levels of dissatisfaction directed towards both major political parties particularly in relation to their current environmental policies.
Kathleen Morris, the Policy Officer who researched and wrote the report, said that the results show an uneven awareness of an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) among young voters.
“Overall, environmental policy is clearly an area of great interest and great importance to first time voters.” The survey results also suggest that young Australians were desirous of alternative policy schemes, particularly greater government research and investment in renewable energy sources.
Currently the finer details of the environmental policies of the two major political parties are yet to be outlined. In light of this recent survey the Left Right Think-Tank recommends both parties develop strong policy stances focused on greater government investment into renewable energy options, rather than re-distributing responsibility for the issue to households, or imposing further financial burdens on businesses.
“Environmental policy is of both high interest and importance to young voters who are unsatisfied with the current weak stance of both major parties and who desire strong, effective action to be taken now. Decisive action in this area by one of the major parties may be a deal breaker in deciding who young voters will vote for”.
Elizabeth Cullen Speaks on Youth Homelessness
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpHGLLL1yPE
Elizabeth Cullen, the Queensland Policy Manager for Left Right, spoke about Youth Homelessness at the Brisbane Institute Panel “Live Fast, Die Young?”
The full video of the event can be viewed on the ABC’s Big Ideas website.