YMCA Victoria

YOUTH PARLIAMENT 2022 Application Information Pack

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A MESSAGE FROM OUR PROGRAM DIRECTORDear passionate young people,

2022 marks the 36th year of the Victorian Youth Parliament, making it the largest and oldest annual state forum for young people in Victoria. The opportunity to engage in a program with such a rich and diverse history, made up of the voices of thousands of previous youth parliamentarians, is a great privilege.

Next year, 120 young people from all corners of the state will come together to create a community of changemakers. Empowered by each other and the incredible ‘Taskforce’ of volunteers, you are invited to share in the exchange of passions and storytelling, hosted within the chambers of the Parliament House of Victoria. Youth Parliament blends the world-class youth facilitation and applied learning pedagogy of the Y, with the support and knowledge of the Victorian Government, to deliver the leading experiential civics education program in Victoria.

In a team of six young people, aged 16-25, you will work alongside 19 other teams to develop and deliver a Bill on a topic that you are passionate about. Through the mentorship and guidance of the Taskforce, you will first and foremost have the opportunity to learn about Victorian civics, advocacy, media and stakeholder engagement skills. The residential components of the program also utilise experiential learning through recreation to build and develop all-important ‘soft skills’ such as confidence, communication and leadership.

During sitting week, Youth Parliamentarians will have the opportunity to debate their Bill with their peers for consideration by the whole. At the conclusion of the sitting week, the Bills will receive the assent of the Youth Governor and are handed to the Minister for Youth, to be distributed to the relevant Ministers and Departments of Government for further consideration. As a result of this process, over 30 Youth Parliament Bills have been adopted into state legislation, including gender-neutral school uniforms and banning lightweight plastic bags. Each debate will be covered by a press of young journalists, participating in the complementary YMCA Youth Press Gallery program. Teams will have the opportunity to apply their newfound media skills by completing an interview with a YMCA Youth Press Journalist to highlight and celebrate their Bill and passion.

Tessa BuchananProgram Director - 2022 YMCA Victoria Youth Parliament

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A MESSAGE FROM OURPROGRAM DIRECTOR continued

The experiences provided in Youth Parliament are a once-in-a-lifetime chance to create lasting memories and friendships with peers across the state. During the last in-person program run in 2019, an astonishing 96% of participants would recommend the Youth Parliament program to their peers. Additionally, the online-adaptations of the Victorian Youth Parliament during COVID-19 aimed to continue the empowerment of young people, especially in such an important time for young voices to be heard. As a reflection of the success of the virtual program, in 2021 over 82% of participants ranked the online Youth Parliament experience as better than other online programs that they had engaged in.

While we are all hoping for a return to a residential camp, due to the success of the 2021 online program, we are confident in the delivery of the program to remain high quality in the event of COVID-19 restrictions requiring remote delivery.

Applications to this prestigious program are always competitive; please read the information and instructions on the following pages to submit an application. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns throughout your application process.

Sincerely,

Tessa Buchanan

Program Director - 2022 YMCA Victoria Youth Parliament

I feel inspired to make positive social change in my own community.

Since Youth Parliament I’ve tried really hard to be the best version of myself

and help others to do the same. I feel more motivated than ever!

- 2018 Youth Parliamentarian

“”

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KEY INFORMATIONWHEN Friday 20 to Sunday 22 May 2022

(Youth Parliament Training Weekend)

Sunday 26 June to Friday 01 July 2022 (Week of Youth Parliament)

Please note that both residential components of the program listed above are compulsory elements of the program. Participants will be required to attend for the full duration of both residential components.

WHERE Residential camp: Lake Dewar Lodge YMCA 339 Garrards Lane, MYRNIONG, 3341

Sitting days: 27, 28 and 29 June 2022, Parliament House, Spring St, Melbourne

COSTS $4,880 (including GST) per team of six participants

Please note: this fee does not cover the cost of travel to and from the residential program.

Some funding assistance is available for eligible teams. Please contact the program coordinator prior to submitting an application for more information and to see if your team would qualify for this support.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE:

Youth Parliament is open to any young person residing in the state of Victoria, aged between 16 and 25 years at the time of the residential programs.

KEY CONTACTS DURING THE APPLICATION PERIODTessa Buchanan Program Director youthparliament.vic@ymca.org.au 0488 038 470Michael Delaney Youth Services Manager michael.delaney@ymca.org.au 0403 289 373

RESOURCE PERSONThe application process should be managed by a Resource Person. A Resource Person is the individual responsible for organising the team and coordinating their application submission. A teacher, youth or council worker, or motivated team member would make a great Resource Person. Once a team is accepted onto the program, the Resource Person will be responsible for the following:

• assisting in organising meetings with the team’s assigned Taskforce mentor; • assisting the team as required, but acknowledging that as young leaders, the participants

should lead the decision-making process and workload; • ensuring the team’s indemnity forms are completed and submitted on time, and assisting in

following up missing information; • being a point of call if an issue arises with the team, including issues about payment or

team members; • ensuring payment is made in full, in accordance with the agreed timeline.

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APPLICATION DETAILSAPPLICATIONS FOR YOUTH PARLIAMENT TEAMS WILL BE OPEN UNTIL 5:00PM THURSDAY 9 DECEMBER 2021.

• A team is made up of six participants. All team members must be between 16 - 25 years for the duration of the residential programs.

• Only two of the six members of a team can be returning participants. Participants may only participate in the program twice, unless they participated in 2020 or 2021 programs as both programs operated online.

• All team members should be committed to participating in all aspects of the YMCA Victorian Youth Parliament program, including meetings with their mentor, training weekend and the full residential components of the program. This should be agreed to prior to signing up to join the team.

• Please note: applications for YMCA Victorian Youth Parliament are very competitive, with the program reaching capacity at only 20 teams. As such, each application will be assessed on several criteria to provide a balanced and accurately representative program which includes the vast spectrum of young Victorians. Selection of the 20 successful applications will be based on, but not limited to, the following criteria:

appropriate representation of the diversity of Victoria’s young people; applications are detailed and submitted on time; team’s ability/plan to recruit and support a team of six young people; secure funding source to cover full cost of the team’s participation, including initial

50% deposit (this could include include the funding assistance on offer for eligible teams - contact the program coordinator prior to submitting an application).

HOW TO APPLYPlease read through the information pack and complete the application form: https://vicyouth.ymca.org.au/learning-and-leadership/youth-parliament/application

For any questions regarding the application process, please email Tessa Buchanan at youthparliament.vic@ymca.org.au

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TERM ONE TO TERM TWOIn the months prior to the training weekend, teams will meet periodically with a mentor from the Taskforce. In these meetings, participants will brainstorm and elect their three most preferred Bill topics. Once a topic is assigned, participants will then draft and finalise their Bill. Mentors will also introduce teams to parliamentary debates through training on debate structure and parliamentary etiquette.

Outside of the residential components of the program, participants will also be given the opportunity to meet with a stakeholder and / or Member of Parliament to discuss their Bill and ideas for change.

TRAINING WEEKENDThe three-day residential training weekend combines a variety of skill and knowledge building to prepare participants for the Youth Parliament sitting week. Across the weekend participants will:

• learn the basics of democracy and voting;• be trained in talking to the media and be interviewed by the Youth Press Gallery about their

Bill for articles to be published;• complete their training (begun in mentor meetings) on parliamentary etiquette and debate;• engage in practice parliamentary debates;• meet the chamber (group of four other teams) who they will work with as a larger team on

the Youth Parliament sitting week;• develop soft skills such as confidence and leadership through experiential learning in

recreational sessions;• have the opportunity to run for extra leadership positions such as chamber leader and

Youth Premier.

SITTING WEEK:The six-day residential ‘Week of Youth Parliament’ combines debating and recreation for participants to apply the training they have received and continue to engage in the community of changemakers established on the training weekend.

On three of the days (27, 28, and 30 June), participants and Taskforce will travel by bus to Parliament House in Melbourne to conduct debates. Teams will sponsor (debate for) their Bill, and be the main refuter (debate against) for one other team’s Bill. In all other debates, participants will collaborate with their chamber to speak either for or against other Bills. Participants will also be given the opportunity to give an adjournment speech: a two minute speech directed to a state MP about a passion of the individual’s that needs to be changed or improved within the state of Victoria.

Back at the campsite, participants will be provided with many opportunities to engage with their peers through recreational and social activities.

PROGRAM BREAKDOWN

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WHAT PARTICIPANTS RECEIVE• A three-day residential training weekend and six-day residential program, including full

catering, accommodation and transport to and from Parliament House.• Three days of facilitated debate in the chambers of the Parliament House of Victoria,

Spring Street. • An exclusive function held in honour of the Youth Parliamentarians. • Coaching and mentoring from a Parliamentary Training Taskforce mentor for the duration

of the program. • Access to a Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Taskforce mentor for the

duration of the program. • The opportunity to work alongside a YMCA Youth Press Gallery journalist to develop media

for the team’s Bill, closer to the program date. • A suite of best practice leadership and teamwork training that can be applied to a multitude

of contexts beyond camp.

PARTICIPANT EXPECTATIONSDue to the limited spaces on the program, unfortunately some applicants miss out. Therefore, it is imperative that every applicant who wishes to participate in the program understands what is expected of them and is willing to meet those expectations.

• Participants commit to attending all meetings organised with their mentor (usually 4-5 meetings throughout the program) and any additional meetings their team organises to work on Bill or speech writing.

• Participants are expected to spend at least five hours working on the Bill and speech writing outside of the residential program.

• Participants must attend the entire three-day residential training weekend and six-day residential program at Lake Dewar Lodge, part of YMCA Camps.

• While on camp, participants must respect that the YMCA has duty of care for all participants, even if they are over the age of 18. This means that all participants adhere to all procedures and policies and must stay on site at all times.

• While on the residential program, participants are expected to participate in all sessions and activities to the best of their ability.

• Participants are expected to respect the diversity and the opinions of other young people on the program and understand that YMCA Victorian Youth Parliament is a place for sharing ideas and learning new things.

• Participants understand that YMCA Victorian Youth Parliament is a non-partisan, issues-based program and is not affiliated with any political party or specific ideologies.

• Participants should note that Youth Parliament is an alcohol and drug-free program and no alcohol or drugs are allowed onto the residential program.

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Thursday 09 December 2021 Team applications close

Monday 13 December 2021 Successful applicant notified via Letter of Offer

5:00pm Friday 17 December 2021

Signed Letters of Offer due back to youthparliament.vic@ymca.org.au

Term One to Term Two (starting Monday 31 January 2022)

Teams meet with Taskforce mentors to research an issue and construct a Bill

5:00pm Tuesday 15 February 2022 Confirmation of six team members due

5:00pm Monday 28 February 2022 Full or first payment due

5:00pm Friday 4 March 2022 Participant indemnity forms submitted

5:00pm Friday 1 April 2022 Final payment due

5:00pm Friday 29 April 2022 Bills must be finalised and submitted

Friday 20 – Sunday 22 May 2022 Youth Parliament Training Weekend

Sunday 25 June to Friday 1 July 2022

Week of Youth Parliament

PLEASE NOTE: failure to comply with any of the above deadlines may results in your team forfeiting their position on the program.

IMPORTANT DATES

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The Victorian Youth Parliament will follow the guidance of the Victorian Chief Health Officer at all times, including during recruitment, stakeholder and training meetings, and all residential components of the program. This may include requirements of staff / volunteers, contractors and participants.

If COVID-19 restrictions inhibit an in-person program, the Victorian Youth Parliament will continue to run. Mentor and stakeholder meetings, training sessions and debates will be held virtually and some dates may change to ensure an enjoyable online experience.

The 2021 Victorian Youth Parliament was held entirely online, offering community connection, training, debates, and professional development sessions virtually. To view some of the livestreamed 2021 Victorian Youth Parliament debates, feel free to explore the Victorian Youth Parliament YouTube channel:

www.youtube.com/channel/UCvWBFaOVBBoEXQ_NHAA5D6g/featured

COVID-19 CONTINGENCY PLAN

AS A SUCCESSFUL APPLICANT…1. Your team’s resource person will be sent a Letter of Offer, which will need to be returned by

5:00pm Thursday 17 December 2021.2. A Taskforce member will contact your team’s Resource Person to organise an initial date to

meet with your whole team from the start of term one 2022 and begin the researching and Bill-writing process.

3. All six team members must be confirmed via the link provided with the Letter of Offer by 5:00pm Tuesday 15 February 2022.

4. All Bills must be finalised and submitted by 5:00pm Friday 29 April 2022.

To get your thought processes started, here are some examples of previous years’ Bill topics:

• promotion of alternative sentencing for non-violent crimes;• extended concessions for students on public transport;• increased incentives for relocations of skilled professionals to rural areas;• universal accessibility of all musical and cultural festivals;• container deposit scheme (cash-for-cans / bottles).

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FURTHER INFORMATIONFurther information about the program can be found online at our following websites:

Website | www.vicyouth.ymca.org.au/learning-and-leadership/youth-parliamentInstagram | @youthparliamentvictoriaFacebook | www.facebook.com/ypvic/Twitter | @ypvicYouTube | www.youtube.com/channel/UCvWBFaOVBBoEXQ_NHAA5D6g

Please know that any queries can be emailed to: Tessa Buchanan at youthparliament.vic@ymca.org.au

AS AN UNSUCCESSFUL APPLICANT…Worry not! All of your team members will be placed on a team backup list and may be invited to participate in the program later in the year in the event that a space becomes available.

It is also highly encouraged to keep an eye out for opportunities to participate in other ways. There are other programs YMCA Victoria offers centred on advocacy and personal development, such as YMCA Youth Press Gallery and opportunities to volunteer for other programs. Feel free to email youthparliament.vic@ymca.org.au for further information.

Youth Parliament adapted remarkably well to the online format.

- 2020 Youth Parliamentarian“ ”

Some major highlights would have to be being given the opportunity to be

heard and express my opinions, as well as how encouraging and supportive

everyone was. We became such a close community of people who respected

and supported each other and that’s something I’ll always cherish.

- 2019 Youth Parliamentarian

“”

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