Media Release by The Hon Larry Anthony MP

Great Start for 2002 Youth Roundtable

The voices of youth were heard loud and clear this week at the first meeting of the
National Youth Roundtable 2002, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Larry Anthony said today.

“The 50 Youth Roundtable members came from all over Australia to meet in Canberra. Roundtable members met with the Governor General, members of Parliament and officers from several Government Departments to discuss the issues that concern them.

“They also met with Ministers David Kemp, Philip Ruddock, Brendan Nelson, Mal Brough and Gary Hardgrave and Parliamentary Secretaries Ron Boswell, Ross Cameron, Sharman Stone and Trish Worth.

“Roundtable members will work on a specific project for the next six months. Selected issues include the environment, social cohesion, cultural differences and equity, rural communities, education, employment, services available for young people, arts, images of young people and health.”

Examples of specific projects include:

  • Jonathan Jones from Sydney and Chelsea Bond from Brisbane will look at developing resources to promote the culture and identity of urban Indigenous young people;
  • Linden Brownley from Moreley in Western Australia will raise awareness of the impact that mining has had on communities;
  • Rebecca Ebert from the Barossa Valley in South Australia is undertaking a community project to reduce youth suicide;
  • Brittany Noble from Grafton in New South Wales will look at the availability of mental health services in rural areas;
  • Rohan Connor from Canberra will look at the benefits of promoting young Australians in international youth forums so they can pass their knowledge and experience back to their communities;
  • Viet Duong from Hurlstone Park in New South Wales will raise awareness at her university campus to reduce the use of plastic cutlery;
  • Chris Tanti from Beaconsfield in Tasmania will look at staging a seafood festival to promote environmentally sustainable practices in the industry.

“Roundtable members will have the support of Ministers, their local Members of Parliament, Government departments and non-Government organisations as they develop their projects.

“Many new and innovative ways will be used to examine issues for the youth agenda by using the most important perspective, that of young people themselves

“I look forward to seeing the final results of all the projects when the Roundtable reconvenes in Canberra in September,” Mr Anthony said.