If you are aged 16 - 24 years, we want to hear from you! ACYP invites you to participate in an online discussion on Wednesday 14th of June from 5:30pm - 6:30pm, to share your lived experiences and concerns about the cost of living and its impact on life, and share what you think Government can do to better support you. Click here to register. Please feel free to share the link with the children and young people in your lives.
Netball NSW Consultations
The Recovery Youth Support Service team have been on the road in May engaging with young people in Northern NSW. The team visited Maclean and Grafton to facilitate consultations about respect and acceptance with young people participating in the Netball NSW Schools Cup. It was great to see so many young people engaging in consultations and netball games. For updates, visit the ACYP Instagram: @acypnsw
Student voice in schools
The 2023 NSW Youth Advisory Council (YAC) are passionate about ensuring young people have a say when it comes to their education and they want to hear from young people about how schools can best listen to students. This 5-10 min survey is open to anyone aged 12 to 24 years. Please share it with the young people in your life. Click here to complete the survey.
National Volunteer Week
The ACYP team celebrated National Volunteer Week by engaging in the Cook4Good Program at Kids Giving Back. National Volunteer Week is a celebration of our power to drive change and ensure volunteering is inclusive. According to the Mission Australia Youth Survey, volunteering was the 4th most commonly reported activity for young people in 2020, with 43% of respondents aged 15-19 being involved as volunteers.
Recovery Youth Support
The team in the Northern Rivers has had a busy month connecting with young people and stakeholders. They spent time with young people living at Ballina Pod Village, met with Headspace’s Recovery to Resilience team and connected with schools to see how we can best support flood affected children and young people. They also visited Casino Beef Week, speaking to a number of young people.
E-postcards to the Advocate
E-Postcards to the Advocate is a new initiative which will ensure the Postcards to the Advocate initiative reaches more children and young people, particularly those who live in regional, rural and remote locations. The postcards are another avenue by which children and young people can help us understand more about how government and community can better support their needs - both in the present and future.
Queenhood Event
Zoë joined Elka Whalan, Brooke McAlary and Angela O'Connell to speak at the 24th Queenhood event. The panel members inspired and challenged the audience as they spoke about sitting in the uncomfortable, and ways to find comfort in the uncomfortable. Zoë focused on the importance of actively listening to the voices of children and young people so that together, we can best support their needs and challenges.
Visiting Pod Villages
The team visited Wollongbar Pod village to run consultations and a pizza night. The discussion was based around flood recovery and life in the pod villages. RYSS also met with the Uniting Village Managers in the Coraki Pod Village and visited Box Ridge Mission to identify gaps in services attending the site, and will look to build relationships with that community. Planning is underway to run consultations and events during NAIDOC.
Vaping Consultations
We have been visiting schools across NSW to listen to young people about their perceptions of vaping. We are asking young people about the tools and resources they would find helpful to support them to choose not to vape or quit vaping. We are working with the Ministry of Health and the Cancer Institute to feed in the insights of young people to their ongoing work to address this health issue.
Youth Homelessness
Zoë recently spoke at the 5th National Housing and Homelessness Forum. The key focus of the forum was to discuss implementation strategies to support young people at risk of homelessness and develop effective preventative and intervention models to reduce the rate of homelessness. The forum was a great opportunity to share ideas and develop collaborative cross-sector partnerships to streamline service delivery.
Meet our team
Over the next few months we will be sharing profiles of our team. Here are four of the faces you will see around our office or on the road!
I’m proud to be working on the ACYP team in the comms role. Some of my highlights while at ACYP have been organising Voices of Change, Children’s Week and getting to know the YAC. I grew up on a farm in the Riverina and completed studies at UTS before founding Womn-Kind, which is a female-led youth mental health organisation. I love the beach and going for walks with my friends.
I’m the Program Manager for the Recovery Youth Support Service based in Northern NSW. I have a long and varied career in health and social care and am particularly passionate about designing and implementing programs that realise real outcomes for children and young people. Originally from the UK, I settled here 7 years ago on the beautiful northern beaches where you can often see me paddle boarding or snorkelling on weekends with my family.
I joined ACYP after being released from juvenile detention. My life experience of being in juvy gave me the amazing opportunity to meet Zoë who has helped me pave my own path and the paths of many to come.
I have a passionate love for fitness and am a certified personal trainer and youth mentor for Confit Pathways.
I’m one of the members of the Policy Team. Our job is to make sure that decision makers are paying attention to what children and young people have to say!
Before I had my son, Oliver, I used to travel lots and have lived in places like Italy, Greece, Fiji and South Sudan. I also come from a very passionate rugby league family – up the Tigers!
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
Office of the Advocate for Children & Young People, Ground Floor, 219-241 Cleveland Street, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012, Australia, 02 9248 0970, acyp@acyp.nsw.gov.au