As the year draws to a close, I am pleased to provide you with a snapshot into some of the work we have been doing at ACYP over the past few months.

LGBTQIA+ Report

The Office is proud to present our report on The Voices of LGBTQIA+ Young People in NSW 2022. This report is an important read for all members of our society. Whether you are a young person or an adult, an employer or an employee, a parent, a sibling, a friend or a colleague – I ask you to listen to the LGBTQIA+ young people who shared their experiences with us.

Click here to read the report.

Youth Advisory Council

The 22-23 YAC members have been meeting every two months since being appointed in August.

This years' YAC have been exploring a range of topics and are particularly interested in increasing student voice at school. They will be commencing their group project this month regarding student voice. For more information on YAC, click here.

2022 Children's Week

This year we hosted Children's Week Events in Sydney, Lismore, Moruya and Menindee. Over 300 students participated in a range of activities, some of which included a colour run, cartooning workshop, ninja warrior course and ACYP consultation.

Our team created and published an activity booklet. The booklet contains child-friendly information and several fun activities. You can download a copy here.

Postcards to the Advocate

The Office has been encouraged with such a positive response to the Postcards to the Advocate initiative. We have sent postcards out to schools, community groups and organisations across NSW.

Receiving the postcards back from children and young people has been wonderful and highlighted the goals, aspirations and hopes of children and young people from across our state. For more information, click here.

Voices of Change

The theme for this year's breakfast event was 'getting it done'. We were joined by 150 guests, including school students from across Sydney and six incredible young people as our speakers (from left);

• Gabby Kanizay
• Ben Tudhope
• Nedd Brockmann
• Zoë Robinson
• Marlee Silva
• Ruby Riethmuller
• Kyzar Jing

Stand Tall Event in Pambula

I delivered a short address at the Stand Tall Event in Pambula as part of the Dream Again Regional Tour where 1,200 young people from surrounding local areas gathered to hear from inspirational speakers and performers.

Thank you to Angela Farr-Jones, Jeanine Treharne and the Stand Tall team for hosting three fantastic regional events and inviting ACYP to be involved. To learn more, click here,

The Tie Dye Project in Dubbo

I travelled to Dubbo to support The Tie Dye Project as part of the 2022 Tie Dye on Tour. Over the weekend the team tie dyed over 1,000 shirts to raise funds for research into the treatment of sarcoma. 

Congratulations to Molly Croft and Amy Parmenter on another successful year of your incredible initiative. It's great to see you bring so many people together to raise awareness and funds for an important cause. To learn more and support the Tie Dye Project, click here.

Out-of-home Care Report

In August, we launched The Voices of Children and Young People in Out-of-home Care report. The report outlines, in the words of children and young people, the experiences of these strong and resilient children and young people and defines practical recommendations to help us as a community better support the needs of and improve outcomes for children and young people in OOHC. Click here to read the full report.

PCYC Nations of Origin

Members of our team facilitated consultations with the young people competing and spectating at the 2022 PCYC Nations of Origins competition.

The team spoke with young people about the things they loved about their communities and schools and listened to their ideas on ways to make their schools and communities more inclusive, fun, practical and engaging.

Thank you for your continued support. If you would like to know more about anything in this newsletter or have any questions, please get in touch by emailing acyp@acyp.nsw.gov.au.

Zoë Robinson
Advocate for Children and Young People