‘Advocate for your community’: Calls for more rural representation in Youth Parliament Program

The Y WA is calling on more young regional, rural, and Indigenous Australians to throw their hat in the ring and apply for the WA Youth Parliament Program to learn how to advocate for their communities. The Y — formally known as the YMCA — runs a four-month program to provide opportunities for young people to have their voices heard by policymakers and participate in democratic processes by drafting, debating, and advocating for mock youth-focused legislation. Y WA CEO Dr Tim McDonald said the program was a great help for young people passionate about representing their communities. “You’ll learn to work with a diverse range of people, gain a deeper knowledge of political systems including how to create your own legislation and write speeches and you will develop lifelong friendships and networks,” he said. “This program encourages youth to create the change they want to see by advocating for meaningful change in their communities.” The Y is calling on anyone aged between 15 and 25 to apply and seeks to get representatives from all 59 electorates across the State. Brianna Watts, A 2023 youth parliamentarian, encouraged everyone, especially rural youth, to give it a go. Ms Watts, who hails from a Brookton farm, said she applied because of her experience in a country school as a girl with learning difficulties. “Growing up, I learned to advocate not only for myself but for others,” she said. “So I thought it would be a really great opportunity to advocate for those who don’t have a voice or might not want to share their voice. “I was taught from a young age, the world’s not going to adapt to you, and you don’t need to adapt to the world, but you need to work out how to make the world see your point of view.” Ms Watts said she was especially passionate about topics such as access to healthcare in rural areas and farm safety, issues she said would not change unless more local people joined the conversation. “People in these areas do know these issues, and they understand them a lot better. It takes an insider to make change,” she said. “An outsider might come in and say ‘this is a problem, we need to stop that’ but that issue can be more complicated ... you just can’t put a bandaid on it.” Ms Watts was sponsored by the Brookton CWA branch and former Nationals Party leader Mia Davies to undertake the chance to be in the Youth Parliament. While in the program, Ms Watts had the chance to talk about two topics of her choice. One was about young females with polycystic ovarian syndrome and the issues they faced because of a lack of support and diagnosis options. The other was an issue specific to her Wheatbelt electorate, which was the importance of high school country balls. Ms Watts said it was important to get more rural voices heard in Parliament. “I learned that unfortunately, growing up regionally means you’re not always going to be heard. The majority of the representation is in the metro areas,” she said. She said rural voices were even more important when considering the vast topics and issues across the State that don’t get brought up. “Every electorate is very different, especially in rural WA ... change isn’t going to happen if people from those communities aren’t speaking.” People can apply for the program via https://bit.ly/YouthParliamentApplication2024. Applications for the Youth Parliament Program close on March 24.