Who are we?

Left Right Think-Tank is Australia’s first inde­pend­ent, non-partisan think-tank of young minds with a mission to involve young people in public policy.
Our vision is for a nation that seeks and embraces the ideas of young people. We aim to help create a society where young people advise and are con­sul­ted on national issues of broad com­munity concern, not just youth issues.
We are not-for-profit and all our staff are aged between 16  –  24 and volun­teer their time for our cause.

Facts and Figures

  • Four state teams in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
  • National Office in Melbourne, Victoria.
  • Over 70 young Australian volunteers.
  • Independent, non-partisan and non-profit.
  • Currently 45 Fellows enrolled in our Policy Fellowship.
  • Founded in March 2008 by Richard Newnham and Thom Woodroofe.

What do we do?

Left Right Think-Tank engages young people in edu­ca­tion and policy-production pro­grams to provide them the resources and the frame­work to create the vision for Australia’s future.

We produce high impact policy, focused on the long-term, in wide con­sulta­tion with young people, provid­ing innov­at­ive solu­tions and recom­mend­a­tions to press­ing prob­lems in Australia.

We provide a plat­form and a space, online and in the com­munity, for young people to grow their net­works, skills and know­ledge. We want to create place where young Australians can share with each other their visions for the future.

Why young people?

Fundamentally we believe that young people aren’t just tomorrow’s leaders, but a power­ful cata­lyst for change today.
Further, young Australians are heavily inves­ted in decisions made today, because we’ll feel their effects tomorrow.

Our Greatest Achievements

The Ennovate Conference in 2009

Ennovate was a series of events held in 2009. The Ennovate con­fer­ence was held in Melbourne and Perth and was a chance for young people to share their views on the future of Australia’s sustainability.

Sponsored by Shell, Ennovate 2009 brought together young people with prom­in­ent sus­tain­ab­il­ity spe­cial­ists, politi­cians and members of the busi­ness world.

In Melbourne, attendees heard from a range of people, includ­ing former State Energy and Resources Minister, Peter Batchelor, Professor John Thwaites, Chair of the Monash Sustainability Institute and former Senator Julian Mcgauran.

The Australian Youth Led Convention in 2010

Australia’s first Youth Led Convention brought together the top young leaders from Australia’s pree­m­in­ent youth led organ­isa­tions for the first time. Over a weekend in Canberra over 60 attendees developed and gained valu­able skills through high quality work­shops delivered by leading pro­fes­sion­als in key know­ledge areas required for running an organ­isa­tion. Key note speak­ers at the event included Peter Garrett, Peter Shergold AC, and Jan Owen AM.

The Policy Fellowship in 2011

Our Policy Fellowship is an oppor­tun­ity that allows young people to be involved in pro­du­cing policy in Australia.

The Fellowship con­sists of a series of 12 work­shops that explore the myriad of factors that lead to, and create, change in Australia. Through the ses­sions our Fellows gain invalu­able skills that they then apply to create a policy on a topic area that is import­ant and press­ing in Australian society. Our Policy Fellowship is cur­rently in oper­a­tion with groups of young people cre­at­ing policies in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

Our History

We were founded in 2008, in response to an obvious lack of a plat­form for young people to express their views in an inde­pend­ent way, rather than joining one of the two major political parties.

Left Right’s former Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Richard Newnham, said he wanted young Australians to be able to comment on issues of broad com­munity concern, not just youth affairs.

Thom Woodroofe, co-founder and former exec­ut­ive dir­ector of Left Right Think-Tank, explained at Left Right Think-Tank’s launch: “I wasn’t attrac­ted to the typical paradigms of left or right, and wanted a way to engage with the decision making pro­cesses of the Australian Government.” In 2009 Thom was recog­nised as the Young Victorian of the Year for his work in estab­lish­ing Left Right Think-Tank.

Rick Newnham was the Chief Executive Officer of Left Right Think-Tank from 2008 – 2010. Under Rick’s lead­er­ship, Left Right delivered the Ennovate con­fer­ences, the Australian Youth-Led con­ven­tion, and a bi-annual fel­low­ship program, which formed the found­a­tion of our current Policy Fellowship. In 2011 Rick was awarded Western Australian young citizen of the year.