Media Release by The Hon Larry Anthony MP

National Youth Roundtable 2002

The 50 members of the fourth National Youth Roundtable have been a direct and valuable link between young Australians and the Government Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Larry Anthony said today.

“Roundtable members have worked very hard on various projects over the last six months focusing on the environment, social cohesion, cultural differences and equity, rural communities, education, employment, services available to young people, arts, images of young people and health.

Some projects have had immediate interest including:

  • Iyngaran Selveratnam’s project to promote young people’s understanding of the political processes and how we support young people to develop their knowledge of and access to democratic processes. Dr Brendan Nelson’s Department of Education, Science and Training will explore ways the report can contribute to the Discovering Democracy initiative.
  • Jonathan Jones looked at educating, challenging and strengthening Indigenous cultures by creating a sense of cultural security free from stereotypes held by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities alike. Jonathan has already secured a partnership with the NSW Art Gallery and recently received the NSW Biennial Indigenous Arts Fellowship.
  • Waverly Canendo established a trivia night in his local community of Yarrabah with the aim of encouraging indigenous people complete their secondary education. This is a concept I will look at taking forward through the National Indigenous Youth Leadership Group.
  • Patricia Le worked to improve awareness of the issues faced by first and second-generation immigrants. She was able to present her finding directly to the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Gary Hardgrave and he will look into progressing the concept.
  • Nathan Goetz surveyed 500 young people about their attitudes towards illicit drug use. The results showed that drugs are a major concern to young people and there is a genuine concern about the effects on communities. I know that Trish Worth, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minster of Health and Ageing will be interested in this report.

“I will take all reports from the 2002 Roundtable to the relevant Federal, State and Territory Minister for their consideration,” Mr Anthony said.