YOUTH DEVELOPMENT IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONFERENCE
Thursday 12th Feb
Adelaide Pavilion
Felicity Ann-Lewis
KEY NOTE ADDRESS
I wish to begin by acknowledging the Kaurna people on whose land we meet today to discuss the important issue of youth participation in our communities. It is interesting to note and it may not be well understood that the Aboriginal population is the fastest growing racial group by births, but only makeup 2% of the population.
Welcome to you all and thanks for giving me the honour of sharing my insights into this important discussion. I acknowledge the input from the Governor Hieu Van Le and Minister Zoe Bettison. It’s great to see Mayors and CEO’s here supported by professional staff working in our council areas with our young people.
The theme of your conference is ‘to learn how to engage with, and work alongside young people as they contribute to vibrant, resilient and sustainable communities.’
The ‘Our Future is Now’ report released in 2012 gives a comprehensive picture of youth development in SA and I would say not much has changed since the report was released. In fact it may have become a littler more dire with the reduction in grant monies available from the state government to support Youth activities.
Despite the struggles of councils in a range of areas the passion for this area is evident by the response to this conference. I don’t think I can tell you anything that isn’t in the report. The Youth Development Officers in the room are the experts on this issue. Just as the young people in our communities are the experts in what is good and what isn’t in their communities.
From my observations there is some great work occurring in the Youth spaces across policy, events, and service.
The recommendation made to hold this conference in response to the report is because there isn’t any uniformity of provision of any, or all of these elements in local government here or anywhere else in Australia.
It like many other worthy issues that speak to social justice- are at the political whim and discretion of the leaders in that council.
Hence the Youth Network were keen to attract CEO’s, Mayors and councillors to this important discussion. As I looked at the list of attendees, I know I’m speaking to the converted here. The majority of the audience are youth workers in councils. I’m pleased to see there are a number of Mayors and CEO’s here, as these are the people in council who have the political power to effect change in councils – in all areas -not just the youth area.
It’s often difficult to engage the decision-makers in these issues such as youth development as they are not that likely to be on the front page of the local paper or consuming the shock jocks on radio.
And the ‘Our Future is Now’ report identifies some other reasons why this is so- the most obvious one is that young people don’t pay rates or any other direct taxes and they don’t vote. I would also suggest that this reinforces the anglo cultural view that children and young people are in a state of becoming, and are not therefore able to have ‘agency’ in their lives.
I read in the Sunday Mail last week about the City Skate Park relocation and wondered how we still get consultation with young people so wrong or do it so badly. Why weren’t the users of the facility- young people - part of the relocation committee right from the beginning. Now they are clearly feeling like an afterthought which reinforces my earlier comments that they are ‘invisible’ and not taken seriously – voiceless and powerless.
This notion is in the 21st century very archaic as many young people in our communities are balancing school attendance and part-time work in local businesses. They are an important part of the local economy and for many multinationals they are a critical part of the employee mix- the growing group of casualised workers.
Schools have long been working with students on rights and responsibilities which in the current national curriculum translates into Civic and Citizenship curriculum. They participate in School Representative Council meetings from Reception and are explicitly shown through this and other processes that their voices – ideas and questions about their school environment are valued.
Now many I have spoken to question whether they are truly listened to and challenge the authenticity of this process, but the point here is that young people are ‘taught’ to have ideas and to challenge the status quo in the schooling context. They are taught about democracy and how it works to allow all citizens an opportunity to speak up about issues that are important in their lives.
Now these same young people leave the school yard every day and travel through their neighbourhood into communities. They perhaps more than any other identified user group in our council areas utilise the local amenities.
Many walk – quite a bit until they get a car… or ride a bike, using our local roads and footpaths. If they use public transport then they use the bus shelters that we provide.
They are aware of the lack of shade or public seating along our bike paths, and they know where the bubblers are to fill their drink bottles.
These young people know where the parks are and what each one has within it. They can also tell you how these could be improved. They use the swimming pool and many of the new arrivals from migrant backgrounds can be found in the library accessing computers and wireless internet.
Of course sport still plays a large role in the lives of many young Australians despite the shift to part-time work which takes many of them away from these pursuits which were the focus in previous generations. They use council parks and sporting fields to develop their skills, along with tennis courts and leisure centres.
So with all of this interaction on a daily basis, it really is interesting that many councils don’t take these community members more seriously.
That takes us back to the political power that young people have in society. No vote, no influence. Could that be why the CEO’s and Mayors are a little thin amongst us? Think of other issues that would get them here in droves. There’s not enough time to discuss these today, but they relate to the hard infrastructure issues. And to be fair its not just youth issues that aren’t that high up on the To Do List for elected councillors and CEO’s.
So that is your challenge. Yes you do need champions and I suspect that’s why I was asked to give this Key Note.
I have become as some would unkindly say the Champion of the Bleeding Hearts, as that’s how our opponents dismiss injustice. The most marginalised and disempowered groups become worn down in trying to speak back to those with much more political capital and power. Young people learn very quickly about which battles to wage, and I’m sure so do Youth Dev Officers.
Attention and money may be made available for one off events and short term programs which have the feel good factor - but what do they achieve. If that’s all you can do, then I accept that. But we shouldn’t make youth engagement just about that.
Developing good strategic policy that sits within the Councils strategic plan is clearly the gold standard. Much of what is then done in Community Development across the city will also be supportive of young people and families. Good inclusive practices will benefit all groups within our communities.
However, in communities where there are high numbers of young people, and particularly in low SES areas, it is more critical to have specific policies.
About 18% of our population fall into the definition of young people in SA. As we know in the past 20 years many young people have chosen to move away from SA. There has been much soul searching about what can be done to address this. We believe it’s about employment and jobs but a lot of commentary from young people is also about Adelaide not being a vibrant place for young people, its boring and lacks excitement for this age group.What is amusing is that these people choose to come back to sleepy, safe Adelaide to raise their children because its safe and slower placed.
Well if young people are our future, then why are they marginalised and voiceless. Why aren’t we as a society actually capturing their agency and fostering it. They are well educated and socialised.
Engaging in a meaningful and authentic way isn’t something that LG should feel is their responsibility alone. In my view as a tertiary educator, we need to work with other community service providers who are working in the same space. And we need to work with schools.
I could talk all day about the Health Promoting Schools model developed by the WHO and why health and well being of young people wont improve until the community supports what students are learning in schools, with teachers and other community members facilitating student agency. But that’s a topic for another lecture!
So let’s cut to the chase. In reading the report again recently in preparation for this Key Note, the clear plea is how can we get youth development on the Agenda of 68 councils. Some Ems and CEO’s might be asking why should we? I think we are all agreed that the roles and responsibilities of the 3 levels of government over time leaves us currently in a position where LG is the closest level of government to the people and we can’t use that mantra when it suits us and then say these hard issues are for another level of government. The state governmentare so far removed from communities in an operational sense that they should not be encouraged to try and deliver programs. The focus should be on lobbying them for State level policies and strategies in documents such as the State Strategic Plan.
I’m not, in saying this, suggesting that LG should have to find the financial and other resources to deliver the necessary policies, programs and events alone. Previous models worked well where the state government provided funding to support councils to work with young people through YACs.
As I read the report ‘Our Future is Now’as I said earlier, I think all of the answers are in there. The hard bit is gathering the resources to respond to the recommendations- the passionate and committed staff with a career path in LG, who are appropriately resourced, with a well described strategic program of work, which has funding in the four areas described - policy, programs/ events, and services.A LG Youth network where that provides regular opportunities for youth workers to support each other, for sharing ideas, needs to be continued or further developed, to build on from the great motivation that you will take away from today.
There may need to be some more thought given to how LG can support state government in the increasing challenge of youth unemployment, but I would suggest that could be merged with economic development. But it must not be lost! Ill come back to the reasons why in a moment.
To the Youth workers here who are often positioned low down in the LG hierarchy and not connected to those in the organisation who can have influence over policy and budgets, a little like the people whose interest you serve, my advice would be ..
Get young people to be visible- in front of EM’s and CEO and Directors. Provide opportunities for them to show their ideas, their enthusiasm and their skills. Empowerment is critical. They will vote down the track and given local government elections are voluntary – if they have had a positive experience with LG as a young person they may be more likely to vote in the future as they understand its role and function.Have them come to the council meeting each month and give a report, invite them to give feedback to policies, participate with the council at workshops or committee meetings on strategic plans. Give them authentic tasks to do- not just busy work and fun activities.
But councils also have to go to young people, to where they hang out. When you are consulting with young people you need to go to them. You could do consultations at the sports field, the skate park, swimming pool and at the local school etc.
Working with young people on a project or an event can provide opportunities for them to build new skills. Make it real – authentic engagement is important and that includes failing or not getting it right all the time. Well not achieving exactly what you wanted. Life is about learning how to bounce back and think about other ways of doing things.
The mental health of our young people is a key discussion in the community and no family is immune from this. It is not SES linked. This could be the hook that helps you bring youth development into focus for the council?
Using a strength- based approach we know that there are many positive things in our community which promote health and well being. Connectedness is a critical factor- feeling connected and part of the community is vital. So the question for your council could be – How does our community support young people to connect with others? Are all young people able to connect through these avenues?
Some councils have higher numbers of young people than others and there are areas where young people are particularly vulnerable ie where they are living in poverty, homelessness etc.
There are NGOs who are funded (not well) to do this work. Council may choose to work in this space, but it is often difficult to justify expenditure in this area- so developing partnerships is critical as I said earlier.
So thinking about what tools you have to lever change in youth public policy, I think one current opportunity that youth development officers could discuss with their Managers is how their council is responding to the development of their Public Health Plans. All local councils must have one under Section 51 of the Public Health Act. The state plan describes a vision for a healthier SA and has 4 priorities:
a)stronger and healthier communities and neighbourhoods for all generations
is clearly an outcome that captures youth development- along with the other demographics.
So there is your imprimatur. Regional Health Plans are described in the PH Act but it is anticipated that councils will embed their council public health priorities into their strategic plan which all councils are required to have under section 122 of the LG Act.
Working regionally is what a number of metropolitan councils have chosen to do in the first attempt at this process. I think that’s a good thing as you can share expertise and resources.
Youth issues in the main can be addressed by good public health policy- which you can argue if there is resistance – is good for everyone. But there are a few important emphases that you need to highlight, and focus resources on, for each of the demographic lifespan groups in your community.
It’s how you choose to then enact the strategies to address the priority areas that are identified. And of course how and who is involved in this process is critical as young people need to be included throughout the processes.
I now want to conclude by specifically addressing the leaders in the room- Mayors and CEO’s. I am very aware that there are many groups within our communities who need special consideration and it could be argued that young people are just one of many important groups that need to have support.
So it will be your leadership that is needed to take the information shared here today from the leaders in the area of youth development in councils, back to your EM’s and managers.
It will always come down to political choices and making the case for specific groups to be supported through policies and funding. But the Public Health Act now gives local councils clear responsibility to have a well developed plan that will address the social determinants of health. For those of you aren’t familiar with these they are the social factors that as individuals, we don’t have direct control over, but which shape our ability to be healthy.
We often hear people saying everyone has choices and these are what determine how well and healthy we are. However that is not true. We don’t begin our life journey equally. Achild born at Burnside has very different life expectancies than one born on the APY Lands and neither chose their parents!
Michael Marmot first described these determinants- there are 10 – not all relate to or can be influenced by LG, but many can and are.