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 Involving Young People
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Overview of issues
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Resources relating to Involving Young People
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Overview of issues
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'Youth Participation' is a frequently used term by government and service providers alike. Strategies that involve, engage and empower young people are vital for young people to be able to articulate their needs and concerns and influence decisions that affect their lives.
Some specific issues relating to participation for young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds include:
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Models of youth participation
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Existing participation initiatives often exclude young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds. This is predominantly due to the inappropriateness of some participation strategies, programs and funding frameworks. Equally, the impetus for involving young people is sometimes unformulated and the needs and benefits for the young people are not perceived as paramount in the process. Within some models, the true potential of refugee young people is often not realised and there is a lack of acknowledgement of these young people’s strengths and capabilities.
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Young people and participation in Australia
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Within Australia’s social and political arena, the inclusion of young people in decision-making processes is often quite limited. For example, legal restrictions based on age diminish young people’s capacity to participate in processes associated with the redistribution of power or to engage as equals in democratic processes.
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CLD youth participation
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Young people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds experience a number of barriers to participation that result in them being even less likely to be included in decision-making processes that affect their lives. Some refugee young people have a fear of voicing their opinions due to past experiences in their country of origin. Newly arrived young people are extremely busy, often struggling with language acquisition, school and study, juggling part-time work and family commitments.
Young people from newly arrived and refugee backgrounds do not have the same familiarity with systems and structures that other Australians do. Some groups of CLD young people may fear the prospect of participation because the processes seem complicated and they are unsure of the intent and outcome. Young people can find the process intimidating and are suspicious of initiatives that attempt to involve them or try to find out what they think about particular issues.
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Resources relating to Involving Young People
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 | Bank of I.D.E.A.S - www.bankofideas.com.au
| The Bank of I.D.E.A.S - Initiatives for the Development of Enterprising Actions and Strategies - is motivated by the desire to create healthy, inclusive, sustainable and enterprising communities. The website includes resources, ideas and links to youth-led initiatives.
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| Participation Works
| Participation Works is a brand new online gateway to the world of children and young people's participation. With one-click you can access policy, practice, networks and information from across the UK. You can share resources, learn about children's rights, search the knowledge hub or find out about innovative practice and new ideas.
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| Participation in Practice - resources from the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria
| The Taking Young People Seriously handbooks, produced in 2004, are a series of resources exploring young people's participation in their communities. They were developed by the Youth Affairs Council and the Office for Youth, Department for Victorian Communities as the product of a partnership project called Participation in Practice. The handbooks outline some principles of young people's participation and practical advice that help ensure that young people are included, empowered and purposefully engaged. They focus on young people's participation in consultations, organisational structures or in other activities in creating change in their communities.
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