Whittlesea Youth Advisory Committee

Monday 5 June 2023

06:00 pm – 07:30 pm

The Whittlesea Youth Advisory Committee is a group of up to 15 young people aged between 12 – 25 years whose purpose is to work together with Council to ensure local young people’s needs are met and that young people have a voice in the decision making processes within Council.

The key roles of the Youth Advisory Committee are:

• Offer advice and advocate to Council on current issues and emerging trends for young people and implications these might have for how young people connect with services across the City of Whittlesea.
• Provide feedback and input to Council on relevant policies, strategies and key developments as determined by the committee members – some of these discussion areas may not be within the direct control of Council, however the City of Whittlesea will seek to support the committee’s broader advocacy goals.
• Consult and connect with local young people for the purpose of providing an avenue for young people to have a way to connect and consult with Council.

The Whittlesea Local Government extends from Bundoora all the way to Beveridge. The municipality is sectioned into three areas known as Wards. These are:

• North Ward: Includes the suburbs of Whittlesea, Beveridge, Humevale, Eden Park, Donnybrook, Woodstock, Yan Yean, Mernda, Doreen, part of South Morang and Kinglake West
• South West: Wollert, Epping, Lalor, Thomastown
• South East: Mill Park,

The City of Whittlesea encourages the involvement of young people with disabilities and is keen to provide supports to address any participation barriers.

The YAC Terms of Reference outline that YAC members who require a support person to enable participation, are able to register support people for attendance at meetings.

The City of Whittlesea is able to provide AUSLAN interpreters at YAC meetings for YAC members whose primary language is AUSLAN.

The Council chambers has accessible services and technology such as closed hearing loop.

The Youth Services team are available to discuss an individual access plan to address individual access requirements and supports, for more information, contact the Youth Services Team on 9404 8800 or email: baseline@whittlesea.vic.gov.au

Yes.  YAC members will be required to be available for 2 days of orientation and planning in the week beginning Monday 5^th July 2021.

The orientation and planning program will include an introduction to committee processes and the YAC Terms of Reference (the Terms of Reference is a document that outlines how the YAC works and what it can and can’t do) as well as an introduction to the Whittlesea area, the Whittlesea Council and how Council works.

The YAC will meet for formal meetings  once a month between July 2021 – June 2022. Meetings will be held on the third Monday of the month from 6pm – 7:30pm in the Council Chambers which are located in the City of Whittlesea Civic Centre, 25 Ferres Boulevard South Morang.

All YAC members will be required to make themselves available to attend an Orientation and Planning week

Outside of formal meetings, YAC members can participate in one or more specialist portfolio working groups. The portfolio working groups will meet once a month to discuss specialist topics and work on identifying, developing and delivering a community project throughout the year.

YAC members may also be provided with the opportunity to engage in other community forums and events as relevant to YAC members’ interests.

YAC Meeting schedule:

We understand that sometimes some YAC members won’t be able to attend a meeting. We request that you aim to attend all meetings, however, if something unexpected happens, or during school/uni exam times, if you need to miss a meeting, that is okay. We ask YAC members to notify the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson through the Youth Services team secretarial support.

We do ask YAC members to commit to 80% attendance – if something unforeseeable occurs, YAC members are able to ask to take a period of absence.

If YAC members miss two consecutive full YAC meetings without any communication, the Youth Services team will make contact to see what support they can offer to address any barriers to attendance.

If you are aged under 18 years of age we do require parent/guardian consent for you to participate in the YAC. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact the Youth Services team on 9404 8800 or email: baseline@whittlesea.vic.gov.au

We welcome the participation of young people who are living in out-of-home care.

Yes, all YAC members who are 18 years or over have to provide a current Working With Children’s Check (WWCC) – volunteer minimum. Information about how to apply for a WWCC can be found here: Home | Working with Children

To some extent this will be up to the YAC and the young people they consult with. YAC members will have the scope to identify up to 3 key areas of importance to focus on in portfolio working groups. Each portfolio group will have an annual budget to allow them to undertake a community project.

The YAC will also be asked to provide advice to Council on key policies, strategies and initiatives that will impact local young people. Youth Services staff will provide support to ensure YAC members have access to up to date and relevant information to ensure YAC members are able to make recommendations to Council that are purposeful and achievable.

This will depend on what the advice relates to and whether any recommendations are able to be acted on by Council. Some recommendations from the YAC may require Council to advocate to other bodies and organisations on behalf of local young people.

Council is keen to hear from and engage with young people and to genuinely address their concerns. If Council is not able to directly address issues raised by young people, Council will seek to advocate to other areas of government on behalf of young people to ensure their voice is represented.

Young people are carefully matched with a volunteer Mentor from a professional background. Mentors provide individual support and guidance with career pathway planning for up to nine months.

Mentors can assist with:

• Resume writing
• Looking for jobs
• Preparing for interviews
• Goal setting
• Practicing English
• Education and Career pathways
• Expanding your networks

Workshops are a great way to expand your knowledge, connect with other young people

and mentors to learn new skills that support you personally and professionally.

We run workshops online and in person and cover a range of topics including:

• Job readiness and preparing for work
• Career and life coaching to reach your goals
• Discovering your passion and purpose
• Self-care for wellbeing and building resilience