Whittlesea Youth Advisory Committee

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,

Young people aged between 12 – 25 years of age who have a strong connection to the City of Whittlesea are encouraged to apply for a position on the YAC. This can include young people who live within, work, go to school/TAFE/Uni within or spend considerable time within the CoW area.

The YAC is an inclusive program. The City of Whittlesea is keen to engage with young people from diverse backgrounds and experiences and provide supportive and inclusive youth leadership and advocacy opportunity. We are particularly interested in hearing from young people from diverse cultural backgrounds, young people who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, young people who identify as LGBTIQ+, and young people who have a disability.

We are also interested in engaging with young people who have experienced homelessness and/or out-of-home care, young people who are carers as well as young people with diverse and creative interests and are seeking to engage with diverse communities of young people across the municipality.

The application period for the 2021 YAC opens on Monday 3^rd May. Applications are able to be submitted until 5pm on Friday 28^th May. Following the application period, all applications will be assessed by a panel of young people and City of Whittlesea Youth Services staff. Shortlisted applicants will be offered the opportunity to attend a Meet and Greet interview to progress their application. Meet and Greet interviews will be held the week of Monday 7^th June.

All applications will be assessed by a panel of two Council Officers from the Youth Services team and two young people who are either former YAC members or who have been involved in youth advisory and advocacy opportunities and live within the City of Whittlesea.

YAC applications will be ranked to ensure that the memberships of the YAC includes representation of:

• Young people who live/work/study or have connections across the three CoW Wards
• Young people aged from 12 – 25 years
• Young people with diversity of identity and lived experience
• Young people with a strong connection to the City of Whittlesea and a desire to advocate for and make positive local change for local young people.
• Young people who are seeking opportunities to be involved in advocacy, leadership and community action.

All applications will be assessed the week of Monday 31^st May 2021. At this stage a shortlist of applicants to progress to the Meet and Greet interviews will be made. Shortlisted applicants will be contacted this week to schedule a time to meet with two members from the Youth Services Team together with two former Youth Advisory Committee members to further discuss the YAC program. Meet and Greet interviews will be held between  Monday 7th^nd June – Friday 11^th June.

All YAC applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application the week beginning Monday 14^th June.

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.