City of Melville Council’s community consultation efforts to create a strategy to work with and support young people has been recognised at the premier awards for public service in WA.
The Council received the Commissioner For Children and Young People Award for Best Practice in Children’s Consultation at the recent Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPPA) WA Achievement Awards 2023 for its Directions from Young People 2022-2025 youth strategy.
Deputy Mayor, Glynis Barber joined City staff and young community members on the Youth Steering Group at the event to receive the award.
Directions from Young People 2022-2025 is the City’s strategic road map for how it will deliver initiatives and plans in partnership with young people that will support their health, wellbeing, and connection to community.
It was developed by the Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia who worked with the City throughout the project.
Consultation included feedback from more than 560 young people, through surveys, workshops, in-depth co-designed workshops with eight peer researchers and the submission of one artwork.
“I’m so delighted that the City of Melville has been recognised for its public consultation with the community in creating the Directions from Young People 2022-2025 youth strategy,” said Mayor, Katy Mair.
“To receive the Commissioner For Children and Young People Award for Best Practice in Children’s Consultation is a testament to our organisation’s commitment to supporting young people’s health, wellbeing and connection to community.
“I’d also like to commend the Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia for developing the strategy alongside our officers.
“There are about 18,000 young people aged 12 to 25 living in the City of Melville, who all make significant contributions to our community through working, studying, volunteering, making social connections and mentoring.
“We know as a local government that we connect with young people in many different ways and play a key role in fostering their sense of belonging and so they feel accepted, welcomed and respected by the community.”
The Council says the three key themes it identified during the consultation were that young people wanted to be more visible in the City, more connected to the community and wanted to feel more valued and respected.
