Youth Parliament now open

Young South Australians have the unique opportunity to create change by having their voices heard at the highest level of State Government with applications now open for the 2022 Youth Parliament Program.

The YMCA SA Youth Parliament is a personal development program for 15 to 25-year-olds, providing an opportunity for young people to gain a strong understanding of parliamentary process and encouraging participants to be leaders.

Participants are recruited from across South Australia and will represent a wide range of backgrounds. They will be allocated into one of ten committees. Each Committee meets regularly throughout the program to develop a Youth Bill aiming to address an issue important to South Australians. Together they will also learn essentials about Parliament and democracy and set personal and team goals to work towards.

The Bills that are passed by the Youth Parliament are presented to the Minister for Youth for the Government’ consideration.

To participate in the program young people are invited to apply as an individual or to enter a team.

“I strongly encourage all interested people and schools to put forward applications,” said Member for Stuart, Hon Dan van Holst Pellekaan MP.

“We’ve had a number of young people from our electorate participate in the past who have benefited greatly from the experience, and it would be wonderful to see as many young people as possible access this opportunity in 2022.”

Regional scholarships are available to individuals to support the costs of travel and participants can receive assistance to seek external sponsorship for the participant fees.

For more information and to apply visit www.sa.ymca.org.au

KEY DATES

Applications close: Monday, 13 March 2022

Training weekend: Saturday 23 April – Sunday 24 April 2022

Parliament week: Sunday 17 July – Friday 22 July 2022