Gemmie Alliston is the National Youth Week South Australian Young Member.
What is National Youth Week?
NYW is Australia’s largest celebration of young people and this year will run from April 14 to 22. It’s a joint local, state, territory and Australian government initiative so it’s a chance for everyone to work together to celebrate and support young people. We will have more than 100 events in SA this year and more than 600 young people from 58 local Councils have been actively involved in planning events for NYW 2007.
One of the principles behind NYW is that young people should be involved in every stage of the process. Therefore, they should have the chance to do things like decide on what their event will be, plan for that event, run it on the day and evaluate it once all is said and done. The types of activities that you could see happening include art exhibitions, workshops on anything from sport to graffiti art and consultation with young people and the wider community on a broad range of issues. To take one example, young people in the City of Norwood, Payneham and St Peters in SA will be running an event called ‘Just for Kicks’, where young people can go along and play soccer or participate in training that will help them brush up on their skills.
How did you get involved and what do you do in your role as a member of the planning group?
I have been involved in NYW at a local level for several years through the City of Norwood, Payneham and St Peters’ Youth Advisory Committee program. In previous years I have had the opportunity to be a member of a team of young people who have planned, run and evaluated battle of the bands events, concerts and arts festivals. In 2006 and 2007 I have been a member of the National Planning Group. This has given me the chance to contribute to decision-making around the theme and colours for NYW, the NYW website and the NYW communications strategy.
As the South Australian Young Member I had the opportunity to co-write an events management training package with Michelle Parker, a Senior Policy and Program Office from Office for Youth. I then co-delivered the training in regional and metropolitan South Australia. This was a fantastic experience, giving me the chance to hear about all the amazing things young people were planning for NYW. It was also an opportunity for me to hone my skills in public speaking, team work and training delivery.
What does taking action mean to you?
To me, taking action could mean many different things, depending on the circumstances. I think it means being effective in saying what you feel, sticking up for what you believe in and trying to get a good result. When it concerns an issue I’m really passionate about, I tend to speak before I think, which can get me into trouble. I think the best type of action is where you make yourself heard and your points are clear, but you also get a result.
What are some hot local issues in your area?
In the eastern suburbs of Adelaide, a big issue young people are facing is a shortage of some types of services, such as mental and sexual health facilities. There is a perception that young people in these suburbs are more affluent, and are therefore able to access private health care services or travel to other parts of the city to get assistance. In regional areas, young people often have difficulties accessing such services when there is a lack of transport. Or, if only one practitioner or service is available in their town, they face difficulties around the confidentiality of them accessing the service – they don’t always want the whole town to know.
What issues are you passionate about? Have you acted on them?
There are many things I am passionate about. One is NYW, which is why I have previously been involved in events and am now the SA rep. I am also passionate about young people from regional SA getting access to the same opportunities as metropolitan young people, which was why I was so thrilled to travel around SA as part of the events management training team. I am also very passionate about young people’s representation in the media, and see NYW as a fantastic opportunity to show the rest of the community all of the great work that young people have been doing, not only towards their events, but in the broader community in general. Young people play important roles on a daily basis as carers, advocates, volunteers, and so many other things so I am passionate about that being recognised
What advice would you give to young people who want to make a difference in the world?
I am always reluctant to ‘give advice’ to young people as I think we are generally a smart, tuned in bunch of people and I don’t see myself as any more qualified to offer advice than anyone else. I guess I do see it as really important to be engaged in the community as much as possible and to find things you are passionate about. If there is something you are interested in, no matter how bizarre it might seem to other people, pursue it! Also, I think if you see something you aren’t happy with, you have a responsibility to speak up because if you don’t you may end up just having to live with it.
If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be? How do you think we could make it happen?
There are a lot of things I would like to change about the world, such as eliminating poverty, creating world peace and stopping all forms of animal cruelty. There are some things I am already doing towards these aims, but thinking about one change I can realistically contribute to right now, I would like to change the way young people are portrayed in the media in Australia. The types of things we can do to help change this are promoting positive youth based events such as NYW, celebrating young people through youth media outlets and developing greater relationships between young people and media professionals.
