The Wellspring

Fight for the Future is a national conference for young workers (those aged under 30 working full-time or combining work and study) to be held in Adelaide from 26 - 27 July, 2007. The conference is run by SA Unions, and registration is now open (and it’s free!).

The organisers say: “Young people have been significantly disadvantaged by the changes to work laws and electoral enrolment procedures over the past year. Young workers from all over the country are invited to come together, share their experiences and hear first hand how the Federal Government’s Industrial Relations legislation is impacting on young people.”

There will be three workshop streams:

• High school and TAFE students (SA based students only)
• Workplace campaigning
• Community or grassroots activism

Participants will develop action plans that can be implemented upon their return to school, workplaces and local communities.

For further information and to download the registration form, see http://www.saunions.org.au/Youth%20Conference/conference%20page.html.

Registration closes 20 July, 2007.

The annual Students of Sustainability (SoS) conference is on again, to be held this year from 9 - 15 July, 2007 at Murdoch University in Perth.

Now in its 16th year, SoS is the largest meeting of the environmental movement in the country, attracting between 600 and 800 young participants each year.

SoS describes itself as “a convergence of communities, students, academics, and environment and Indigenous groups and autonomous activists from around Australia. It features inspiring speakers, practical workshops, community nights, bands, films, field trips, actions, reflection, dialogue, celebration.”

Registration (which includes camping accommodation and vegan meals) for students is $175. Early bird registration (which gives you a discount of $15) ends 1 June, 2007.

For further information and to register online, see http://www.studentsofsustainability.org/.

Symbolising the priority placed on fighting global warming, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently appointed three special envoys on climate change. The envoys - former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland (famous for propagating the commonly-held concept and definition for ’sustainable development’), former South Korean Foreign Minister Han Seung soo (Ban’s former boss!) and former Chilean President Ricardo Lagos - will work with Ban and political leaders around the world on fostering new climate change negotiations.

For more information, see the UN News Centre’s release at http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22410&Cr=climate&Cr1=change.

(Incidentally, the UN-Truth blog has an interesting (but somewhat rambling) article on the proliferation of UN Special Envoys: see http://www.un-truth.com/?p=203.)

In spectacular timing, the next day, the Australian Minister for the Environment and Water Resources called for the Kyoto Treaty to be scrapped, arguing the agreement belongs in the “pages of climate history”. The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP said that with no limits set for developing countries, a lack of deforestation provisions and no chance the U.S. will ratify it, the world should focus on creating a new document. Critics countered that the government is merely trying to gloss over Australia’s rising energy and transport emissions. Ruh roh!

For further information, see the Reuters article at http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SYD71858.htm.

Held in Melbourne from the 1 -3 May, the first National Youth Affairs Conference in eight years offered an excellent opportunity for young people and those that work with young people to get together to assess progress and discuss issues of national significance to Australia’s young people.

From a national perspective, a few issues received a lot of attention:

• The development of codes of ethics and / or practice for youth workers in each state and territory was heavily discussed. Most recently an issue in Victoria, which is currently seeking the introduction of a Victorian Youth Sector Code of Ethical Practice, the discussion formed the final discussion panel at the Conference (see the front page of the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria’s (YACVic) website), with Youth Affairs Network of Queensland (YANQ) Director Siyavash Doostkhah arguing against the introduction of Codes.
• There was substantial discussion around the tokenism of the National Youth Roundtable, with Edith Cowan University researcher Jude Bridgland-Sorenson presenting the findings of her six-year long research project that found that it was a “politically-manipulated waste of time”. Reporter Michael Turtle, formerly of Triple J and now the ABC’s new reporter at large for youth issues, ensured the story got coverage on ABC local radio’s The World Today and Triple J’s Hack.
• Of course, funding for a national youth affairs peak was also raised several times in several different sessions, and overwhelmingly supported by participants. Representatives from the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition met with Senator The Hon. Nigel Scullion, Minister for Community Services, who was formally presented with a funding submission for his consideration. The next day, Ms Tanya Plibersek MP, Shadow Minister for Women and Youth reaffirmed the Australian Labor Party’s commitment to re-establishing a Minister for Youth position and funding a national youth affairs peak. The Shadow Minister said:

  “Young Australians will be given a formal, funded mechanism to advise a new Labor Government on how policies affect them which will be independent, more representative and have a broader role than current youth advisory bodies.

  “This mechanism will be called the Australian Youth Forum, and will bring together young people and advocates to discuss problems affecting youth, and how the federal government can be part of a solution.

  “The Australian Youth Forum will be a formal communication channel between outstanding youth representatives and service-providers and the Federal Government.”

  The Shadow Minister also said that the ALP would repeal the much-discussed Electoral Roll reforms that were widely seen to have disenfranchised young Australians.

• Lastly, Conference delegates were saddened to hear that, after 23 years, Streetwize Communications will wind down its operations. The organisation, which is well-known for reaching hard-to-reach groups with its well-researched comic books, pamphlets, kits and DVDs on issues such as discrimination, employment and health, finally succumbed to the financial difficulties that had plagued it since its inception. Streetwize are currently giving away all remaining stock until Friday 25th of May. If you’d like to grab something, go visit Streetwize at:

  Streetwize Communications
  Tel: (02) 9319 0220
  Suite 6, 245 Chalmers St
  REDFERN NSW 2016

  And remember to thank them for their hard work!

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Luke Bo’sher, Policy Officer at the Youth Coalition for the ACT and Young Spokesperson for the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition, has prepared a summary of the 2007 Australian Federal Budget as it pertains to young Australians. Luke says: ” …there is very little to further support and enhance work with young people experiencing disadvantage or social marginalisation (particularly as there is no new money for mental health, housing, homelessness or community sector sustainability).”

To download the excellent summary, see http://www.youthcoalition.net/documents/policy/Budget/Federal/Budget%20Summary.pdf.

The National Youth Commission Inquiry into Youth Homelessness is the first independent inquiry into youth homelessness since the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission inquiry completed by Commissioner Brian Burdekin (”Our Homeless Children”) in 1989.

With some 33,000 homeless young people in Australia without a safe place to call home each night, the current inquiry is examining why youth homelessness continues to be a major problem in Australia. It will gather evidence on the issue of youth homelessness and seek input from all stakeholders including service providers, government agencies, community organizations and homeless young people.

The inquiry is underway with first round hearings already held in Hobart, Townsville, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Geelong, Warrnambool and Wagga Wagga. If you missed the hearings, you can still participate by sending in a written submission or by doing an on-line submission via the Commission’s website. The Commission would particularly like to hear from young Australians (12 - 25 years old) themselves who have been, are or at risk of homelessness to have a say.

For further information on the Inquiry and on ways to participate, see http://www.nyc.net.au/.

Submissions close 15 June, 2007.

The last few weeks have seen two new surveys of young Australians released:

Youth employment NGO Dusseldorp Skills Forum has released its survey of 800 young Australians, entitled “What Young People Are Thinking”. Conducted by market researcher Newspoll, the survey “provides insights into the study and work attitudes, opinions and experiences of young Australians.”

The survey reveals a group of young people who are confident about their personal future and generally positive about their experiences in study and in work. The survey also points to several fault lines that DSF say suggest areas in need of greater policy attention.

For further information and to download the survey, see http://www.dsf.org.au/papers/195.htm.

Meanwhile, Christian welfare support NGO Mission Australia is at it again, calling for young people aged 11 - 24 to complete its sixth annual National Survey of Young Australians. In 2006, they had 14,700 respondents.

The survey’s primary purpose is to identify and clarify the key and emerging issues for young people. It asks young people about what they value; their concerns; sources of advice and support and involvement in community activities. Mission Australia says that the survey “publicly affirms that young people and their views are valued by the community” and that the survey has become a valuable resource for young people and those working with young people and their rights and interests.

For more information and to complete this year’s survey, see http://www.missionaustralia.com.au/youthsurvey/.

The survey closes 29 June 2007, and as usual, the survey findings will be available publicly later in the year.

Update (22 May): Yet another! The results of the annual national survey of 15-20 year olds (”Youth Poll 2007″) by the Australian Democrats has been released.

“Youth Poll 2007 has found young Australians feel very strongly about the Government entering into a treaty with Indigenous Australians, with 68% saying it should do so. Other key findings of this years Youth Poll include: 54% of respondents know a young person who has attempted or committed suicide; 87% believe the Federal Government is not doing enough to address climate change; young Australians are split on support for an Access Card, with 49% supporting the proposal and 51% opposing it; and, only 14% of young people think society negatively stereotypes young parents.”

Unfortunately it doesn’t seem that the Democrats are releasing details of how many young people participated in their survey. However, whilst you might expect the poll to mainly reach the Democrats’ progressive supporter base, some of the responses are surprising conservative, which might suggest a broader reach. For example: a majority say that the Federal Government should not repeal its voluntary student unionism legislation and that Australia should not become a republic (!), and over 40% support mandatory detention of asylum seekers.

For further details, see the media release at http://www.democrats.org.au/news/index.htm?press_id=5873, and download the full poll results at http://www.natashastottdespoja.com/cms_resources/documents/Youth_Poll_Report_2007.pdf.

The New York Times has an interesting story about the only blogger accredited as one of 200 full-time resident correspondents at the United Nations. Matthew Lee runs innercitypress.org, which attracts 289 000 visitors each month (though from my perspective the stories seem a little haphazardly organised and are a tad confusing). The NYT reflects on how bloggers operate amongst other reporters at the UN, and how the institution is coping with a trend that can see practically anyone setup a website and start writing.

To view the article, see http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/business/
media/30blog.html?ex=1179806400&en=e971e95ceab9f80f&ei=5070 (free registration required).