The YAP is exactly that, a plan for youth in the City of Greater Bendigo. It will be a short document which tells you all the actions the City will do to provide opportunities for young people including:

• build their capacity
• develop support networks and skills
• and strengthen their connections to increase participation in the social, civic and economic aspects of their community.

The Draft Youth Action Plan 2023-2024 commits the City to continuing successful programs like Youth Council, Ambedo, and YO Events/FreeZa, skills development and training and providing safe and welcoming activities and events.

All draft actions are aligned to the five outcomes of the City’s Health and Wellbeing Plan 2021- 2025 which are:

• Healthy and well
• Safe and secure
• Able to participate
• Connected to community and culture; and
• Livable

The City of Greater Bendigo Youth Council is an advisory and advocacy committee whose role is to represent the voice of young people who live, work and/or study in the City of Greater Bendigo. Youth Council achieves this by:

• Providing advice to the City of Greater Bendigo Council on plans, strategies, policies and projects so that they better align to the needs of young people;
• Engaging with young people to identify their priorities; and
• Advocating on issues that directly impact young people.

The goals of the Youth Council are to:

• Provide opportunities for young people to have their say and influence Council policies, plans, strategies and projects.
• Promote young people as valuable citizens who make a positive contribution to the community.
• Provide opportunities for young people to develop leadership skills.
• Provide the opportunity for Councillors to meet, hear and learn from young people.
• Provide opportunities for young people to consult with the wider community.

There are two stages to the development of the YAP.

The first stage was the evaluation of the Youth Strategy 2017-2021. This included: a stakeholder survey which received 168 responses, five focus groups (with 17 participants), 14 interviews and feedback through three stakeholder emails.

The engagement for this stage was targeted at people who had participated in some way with City youth programs. Youth Council are overseeing the whole process and will approve the final draft before it is approved by Council. Youth Council will then oversee the implementation of the Youth Action Plan 2023-2024.

The second stage of the project is the development of the Draft Youth Action Plan 2023- 2024, which this survey is part of.

The plan was drafted from

• Themes from the evaluation of the previous Youth Strategy (stage 1)
• youth focused themes from the Imagine Greater Bendigo community engagement process in May 2021
• Youth Council priorities and suggestions
• strategic alignment to City plans and strategies including the Council Plan 2021-2025, the Economic Development Strategy 2020-2030, the Cultural Diversity and Inclusion Plan 2021-2025, Reconciliation Plan 2021-2025, Social Justice Framework 2022-2032 and the Climate Change and Environment Strategy 2021-2026.
• informed by state government funding specifically from the Engage! and FreeZa programs.

The key themes of the Youth Strategy 2017-2021 evaluation are:

• Youth Council is the most visible and successful program.
• Programs such as Ambedo and YO Events/FreeZa are also successful and valued by young people.
• Skills development through micro-credentials and Barista training is valued and wanted by young people.
• Young people who are linked to YO Bendigo value the programs that came out of the Youth Strategy – but they often didn’t know about the Strategy itself.
• The programs that came out of the Strategy were appreciated by young people who knew about them – but many young people are not aware of the City’s youth programs.
• Inclusion, access, participation and diversity are all important to young people.
• Feeling safe and welcome with City programs is important to young people.
• A strong youth voice and youth leadership are important to young people.
• Skills development opportunities are important and needed.
• There is a need for more opportunities and support for disadvantaged young people.
• There is a need for more opportunities for rural young people.
• More engagement and collaboration with schools is seen as important.
• There is a need for more creative opportunities for young people.
• There is a need for more work experience, internships and volunteer opportunities.
• Building confidence in young people and supporting mental wellbeing is important to young people.
• Finally, there was an overarching theme to the evaluation of the previous Youth Strategy - the need for improved communication and promotion of City youth programs so more young people know about the opportunities offered by the City. This theme was repeated at every stage of the evaluation. It is also a theme that was previously identified by the Engaged Communities team and has been part of the team’s workplan for the last 12+ months.

The key recommendations from the evaluation of the Youth Strategy 2017-2021 are:

• Continue with programs such as Youth Council, Ambedo and YO Events/FreeZa.
• Continue to offer skills development training opportunities such as Barista training.
• Offer more opportunities to rural and disadvantaged young people.
• Increase engagement and collaboration with schools and youth service organisations.
• Support inclusion, access, diversity and participation amongst young people.
• Provide a safe and welcoming environment with all City youth activities and events.
• Support young people to develop confidence and personal skills.
• Support young people with volunteering, work experience and internships.
• Develop a Youth Awards program.
• Support young people to have a voice.
• Support the development of young leaders.
• Improve promotion of City youth activities, programs and events.

It is recommended that all the above recommendations inform the development of the Youth Action Plan 2023-2024. All recommendations are within current resource constraints and scope of the Engaged Communities Team.

The plan covers young people of the whole municipality, including small towns and rural communities within the City of Greater Bendigo.

In 2021, there were 19,045 young people aged between 12 and 24 years in Greater Bendigo which was 15.6% of the overall population of 121,466 (Profile ID 2022). By 2026 the population of young people is projected to rise to 22,281 (16.6% of overall population) and 25,786 by 2036 (16.6%) (Profile ID 2017).

In particular, the population of young people is expected to rise significantly in the new growth areas of Huntly, Maiden Gully, Marong and Strathfieldsaye.

This growing population of young people and the areas of high growth will have a significant impact on the type and level of services and infrastructure required to respond to the needs and aspirations of young people in these areas. The Draft Youth Action Plan 2023-2024 aims to respond to those needs and aspirations.

Young people are key contributors to the Youth Action Plan as it is about their future.

The City is asking for community feedback on the actions.

Your feedback will provide input into the finalisation of the plan, it will help us to ensure we have considered what community members, especially young people, think we have missed or could add to the plan.

The draft plan and community feedback will first be presented to Youth Council and then be presented to Council so the Councillors can review it all and decide if the plan will be approved.

FReeZA is also a state government funded initiative which provides opportunities for young people to create and enjoy live band gigs, dance parties and other cultural, recreational and artistic events that are drug, alcohol and smoke-free in supervised and safe venues.

Examples: All Ages Tour, Festivals – like Pride Festival Q+ T-Party, Easter, Blues and Roots and training workshops like Sound Tech Training and event production. We can also assist at your events by providing paid opportunities for young artists, like at the Huntly Family Fun Day.

Engage! is a three-year state government funded initiative that aims to provide a variety of skills and development opportunities for young people aged 12-24 years.

Through their participation, young people can develop leadership and technical skills, attain micro-credentials, apply their creativity, volunteer and network.

Examples include the Youth Council, Ambedo magazine, First Aid and Barista training, creative skills workshops as well as confidence and social skill building workshops using board games as a tool.

Ambedo is a magazine developed by local young people including artwork, stories and more. It is a professionally printed and distributed throughout Greater Bendigo.