Country Youth have capital ideas 

Year 12 student Cordelia Lloyd explains how a group of rural students are influencing government policy.

I first heard about the Rural Youth Ambassadors program when I received an email on an ordinary school day. At the time I had no idea just what that email would lead to.

Many of us including myself, applied for this program without any thought that in the near future the program would take us anywhere close to Canberra and important politicians that can help facilitate our ideas and hopes for youth growing up in rural Australia.

However, as we have progressed through our time as a part of the Rural Youth Ambassadors for our respective states, we have learned there are no bounds to what we can achieve. So, despite our original state of mind when we started in the program 22 high school students from either NSW, South Australia, or Victoria have spent three days, speaking with Ministers, our local Members of Parliament and other pertinent individuals. We discussed key issues facing young people from rural Australia and the initiatives we would like to see taken to address them.

As a group we have developed three main ideas, the first being a partnership between schools in a nearby radius that enables them to work together so that they may share resources and offer a broader range of subjects and extracurriculars to students.

Our second idea regards mental health and proposes a solution that involves a proactive rather than reactive approach that is student driven and better allows for teachers and parents to help students deal with mental health issues.

Our final idea addresses how students from rural areas receive information about pathways after high school that involves a youth-to-youth approach where a careers expo travels around to all the high schools in rural Australia. The expo would focus on the stories and experiences of those who have successfully taken opportunities outside of their rural community as young people and then later returned.

After spending a whole day presenting our ideas, we returned to our accommodation excited for the days ahead of us, yet exhausted.

During our visit, we hope to have our ideas circulating around in Parliament House and even for some of these ideas to begin the process of being implemented. This program has also enabled us to find like-minded individuals that share our passion and initiative for providing a better world for young people living in rural Australia.

As a result of this all of us have bonded from our shared experience of the National Forum and the friendships we have gained due to this will continue to prosper and strengthen into the foreseeable future.

As a result of this experience, we have all also grown as individuals and become better versions of ourselves and leaders.

After our four days together in Canberra we hope that all the hard work we have done leading up to and during the national forum will result in rural youth benefiting from an outcome that bridges the gap between metropolitan and rural Australia in relation to education, mental health and our opportunities and pathways for after high school.

And lastly when we all return back to our hometowns we will take with us our personal growth, better leadership skills and a message of hope for the future for young people living in rural Australia.

Cordelia Lloyd is in Year 12 at Guyra Central School and Aurora College. 

She visited the National Parliament last week as part of the Rural Youth Ambassadors program.

Rural Youth Ambassadors in Canberra, speaking on behalf of rural young Australians everywhere

From places as far as Streaky Bay in SA, Alstonville in northern NSW, and Yanakie in Victoria, 18 rural and remote young Australians travelled to Canberra to meet with Federal Ministers and education officials to share their thoughts  on rural and remote education across Australia. Over the course of three days, they attended several meetings to speak on behalf of their peers all over the country. 

The National Forum was the final outcome of a year-long leadership program delivered by the Country Education Partnership (CEP) across South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. The program aims to develop leadership skills of rural and remote young people, while also providing a formal, national voice for rural students on issues affecting their education and communities. 

The Ambassadors arrived in Canberra on Tuesday afternoon after a long day of travelling from from the various rural communities across the three states.

By Wednesday the 18 young people had arrived in the nation’s capital and the inaugural National Forum began. 

Day one began at Parliament House where the Ambassadors met with Minister Tehan, his chief of Staff and advisor. The group shared their stories, ideas and a proposal with the Minister and his staff. 

Maddie, Cordy, Tayla and Samantha were part of the group who attended the meeting with Minister Tehan. 

“We discussed schools working together, mental health, and after school information,” they said.

“We really valued the passion and support we got from Minister Tehan. His support of Rural Inspire was amazing.” 

After this meeting, the Ambassadors spent time with their respective local politicians. They had discussions about their local areas, and shared with their representatives details of the national forum and their proposals. 

Phil Brown, Country Education Partnership’s CEO facilitated many of the meetings throughout the day. 

“It was great to see the Rural Youth Ambassadors take up so many opportunities throughout the day,” he said. 

“The presentations they made, the relationships they built with local politicians and the response they got from Ministers, was all exceptional,” 

The final meeting of the day was with Minister Gee, Minister for Decentralisation and Regional Education. The ambassadors again told their stories and proposed their ideas to the Minister. 

“We were really happy and honoured for this opportunity and looking forward to the rest of the trip,” they said. 

“Minister Gee has asked us to provide more detail about our ideas so he can take it to the Department of Education, Skills and Employment & the National Education Council.” 

The day concluded with dinner by Lake Burley Griffin where the group reflected on their experiences of the day. 

Mr Brown was pleased with the outcomes of the day. 

“The Ministers asking for Rural Youth Ambassadors to provide documentation of their ideas was a real acknowledgement of the work all the 2020 Rural Youth Ambassadors have done, from all three states.” 

Day 2 began with a meeting with Robbie Beale from the National Careers Institute (NCI). Mrs Beale consulted the Ambassadors for feedback on the NCI’s delivery of “Your Career” information across the nation. A discussion followed and the ambassadors shared ideas about how delivering this information to school leavers in Australia could look in the future.

The second meeting of the day was with Kristy Van Oome and Marie Schneider from the Regional University department. The group discussed how the Country University Network could best support rural and remote young people to attend universities in rural communities. 

After lunch the ambassadors met with Education Minister the Hon Alan Tudge and The Assistant Minister for Youth and Employment Services the Hon Luke Howart. Ambassadors Naomi Gerrard and Ben Caughey believed the meeting was impactful. 

“They were both very impressed with our presentation,” they said,  “and we are optimistic they will take our ideas on board and want to work with us again.” 

Although supervised by CEP staff the Ambassadors facilitated the discussion on their own.

Phil Brown, CEO of Country Education Partnership, attended the meeting with the Ambassadors. 

“It was great to see their ideas acknowledged and encouraged through the positive response expressed by the Ministers,” he said. 

Over the course of the three days, each of the Rural Youth Ambassadors met with their respective local MPs who were in Canberra for parliament. They had discussions about their local areas, and shared with their representatives details of the national forum and their proposals. 

Phil Brown, Country Education Partnership’s CEO facilitated many of the meetings throughout the day. 

“It was great to see the Rural Youth Ambassadors take up so many opportunities throughout the day,” he said. 

“The presentations they made, the relationships they built with local politicians and the response they got from Ministers, was all exceptional.” 

Day three involved a tour of the University of Canberra campus, and a conversation with members of the Rural Education & Communities research group out of the Centre for Sustainable Communities. Followed by a video conference with members of the National School Resourcing Board where the Ambassadors once again shared their ideas about how to support mental health in schools, and how schools in local geographic areas could better service their students by working together and sharing resources. 

By Midday the meetings were finished and the Rural Youth Ambassadors started their various journeys home.

Cordy Lloyd, a Rural Youth Ambassador from Guyra in NSW reflected on the experience.

“In the next few days, we hope to have our ideas circulating around in Parliament House and even for some of these ideas to begin the process of being implemented,” she said. 

“This program has also enabled us to find like-minded individuals that share our passion and initiative for providing a better world for young people living in rural Australia.”