Federation Youth Councillors recently joined approximately 100 other young people from across NSW at the 2024 Youth Council Conference in Sydney.
Youth Councillors Bel Carroll, Alyssa Walda, and Max Sampson, joined Maree Higgins, Tom Carroll and Amber Harvey, Federation Council's Team Leader Community Development at the three-day conference. With the theme Our Diversity Unites Us! The conference was held at Western Sydney University in the South West one of the most culturally diverse regions in Australia.
Youth Councillor, Bel Carroll said "The Youth Conference was interesting and provided me with insight on Western Sydney's diversity and vast array of cultures." This was reverberated by Youth Councillor, Alyssa Walda who thought the youth conference was entertaining and an eye-opening place to be over the weekend. Alyssa said "It taught me a lot of new things about culture and diversity."
The NSW Youth Conference provided a fantastic opportunity for young individuals to aged 12-24 to come together, engage in meaningful discussions and contribute to the shaping of our communities. It included insightful workshops on leadership, youth participation and social storytelling, panel discussions, and networking opportunities along with a chance to learn about tackling social issues, develop advocacy skills and getting creative. Key note speakers included representatives from the NSW Advocate for Children and Young People, and the Office for Regional Youth.
Each evening of the conference the delegates got to experience a slice of South West Sydney and its culture. Night one featured a Foodies and Trivia Night where groups visited a restaurant in Bankstown representative of one culture in the local area. Night two was a South West Block Party at the Fairfield Youth and Community Centre featuring cultural dance and performance groups, local young musicians and games.
This event has been sponsored by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice, and Western Sydney University. Council would like to thank co-hosts City of Canterbury-Bankstown Council, Fairfield City Council and Liverpool City Council, their staff and their respective Youth Advisory Committees for an amazing three days. Diversity united us.
