A six-year long research project into the Federal Government’s National Youth Roundtable has found that it’s a politically manipulated waste of time.The research will be presented today at the Youth Affairs Conference in Melbourne, which will also hear from other speakers critical of the Government’s youth policies.But the Minister in charge [Nigel Scullion] denies that the Federal Government is ignoring the voices and needs of young Australians.
Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he? Even though:
… researcher Jude Bridgland Sorenson from Edith Cowan University has studied six years’ worth of roundtables and found the young people generally weren’t happy with their experiences: “They felt disillusioned, hurt, ignored, not listened to, brushed aside.”
Bridgland Sorenson says in that time period, Roundtable delegates came up with more than 200 recommendations, but only six were accepted.
And the young people felt like they never got a chance to truly speak their mind:
“One of the things that the young people are chosen specifically for is their media savvy. The media representatives were chosen very carefully by the roundtable organisers, and then they would be briefed very tightly each morning about what they could and couldn’t say to the media, and the young people felt like they were muzzled.”
Source: The World Today.
“…and found the young people generally weren’t happy with their experiences: “They felt disillusioned, hurt, ignored, not listened to, brushed aside.â€?
After detailed lab analysis of the evidence, I feel we can say with utmost confidence — yep. Those definitely sound like young people.
Mah parents think Ah’m crazy
And they hate the things Ah do
Ah’m stoopid and Ah’m lazy,
Man if they only knew…
Crank it, boys.
Speaking of Yoof
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,21659877-5005361,00.html
I can remember when the Youth Round tables were set up Gummo and they were set up to fail. Very similar in fact to Howard’s constitutional Convention which was also set up by the Howard Government to fail. Similar to the 2007/2008 Federal Coalition buget which is also being set up to fail by all accounts. Similar to the introduction of AWA’s and workchoices that were set up tp fail. Similar to the approval for the sale of QANTAS which was set up to fail. Similar to the 2007 Coalition election Campaign which has been set up…
Minister for Youth? We replaced that with the Minister for Ageing, didn’t we?
Anyway the way the pork is being thrown around by the Dear Leaders Lackies there will be nothing in kitty left for the youth.
They’ll still have the Future Fund, steve.
Oops, sorry. I thought this was a post about Alice Cooper.
From the very moment they stopped funding to the Youth Action Coalition (I think I’ve got the name right) and replaced it with the Roundtable the fix was in.
Poor kids. Shuffled around by the Youth Bureau suits - “Oh yeah, hey, we really believe in what you’re saying, Youth Policy, like, um, totally rocks, yeah…”, regular meetings with government intellectual luminaries like Larry Anthony, all the meaningless “busy work” they had to do.
ALP press release on youth policy.
Tanya Plibersek MP
Shadow Minister for Human Services, Housing, Women and Youth
LABOR COMMITS TO AUSTRALIA’S YOUTH
Today I announced a series of commitments to increase the number and influence of youth on policy under a Rudd Labor Government.
Young Australians will be given a formal, funded mechanism to advise a new Labor Government on how policies affect them which will be independent, more representative and have a broader role than current youth advisory bodies.
This mechanism will be called the Australian Youth Forum, and will bring together young people and advocates to discuss problems affecting youth, and how the federal government can be part of a solution.
There are a lot of topics that youth have important knowledge and views about, from containing the spread of drugs such as ‘ice’ to improving the quality of education: knowledge that is currently wasted on the Howard Government.
The Australian Youth Forum will be a formal communication channel between outstanding youth representatives and service-providers and the Federal Government.
Another key to this improved communication will be the appointment of a Youth Minister.
Over the last ten years, the Howard Government has:
· abolished the National Indigenous Youth Leadership Group;
· de-funded the Australian Youth Policy and Action Coalition;
· replaced a genuine lobbying body with a hand-picked round table then halved the size of that round table;
· abolished the position of Youth Minister;
· abolished universal student unionism; and
· disenfranchised 18 year olds who are not enrolled to vote.
Labor will redress the down-grading of young people as citizens and contributors to our country.
We will restore the position of Youth Minister, repeal the electoral laws which if in existence at the last election would have denied up to 160 000 young people their vote, and take seriously the views and interests of youth in policy.
3 May 2007
hey
I’m a member of roundtable this year and all the research that the woman is basing her bitching on is rubbish! She “studied six years’ worth of roundtables and found the young people generally weren’t happy with their experiences” but she only studied 7 people out of over 400 young people who have been involved in roundtable over the years! That is 1.75% of members who were studied! AND they were all from the researchers home state!
Miss Bridgland Sorenson also says we are chosen for our “media savvy” but no questions are ever asked in the application process regarding media! She also writes “The media representatives were chosen very carefully by the roundtable organisers” how did she not realise that roundtable organisers do not even select members! other young people do!!
She says with negative emphasis that six concepts designed at the national youth roundtable were accepted by government. But six concepts of the six years she studied: That is a concept for every year! and the concepts that the government does not have the resources to fund are often undertaken privately or with the aid of other youth organisations- presenting to government is only a small part of the roundtable.
I have also never been muzzled, that is wierd…
Two words, NYR etc: Anecdotal evidence. That’s all you’ve given us in that comment, when it comes to this year’s National Round Table.
Two more words Ad hominem: short for “shoot the messenger”. Have you actually read the research? The fact that the only criticism you’ve come up with is a personal abuse of the researcher suggests not - if that’s the only shot in your locker, don’t bother firing it again. It wasn’t effective the first time.
Oh, one more: Astroturf. I’m sure you’ve heard of it.
Come back with any more of this crap and I’ll stop playing nice. Well, once I’ve got my glasses back, so I can read the screen without having to tilt the office chair back to a ridiculous angle.
I’ve got old age and rat cunning on my side - what have you got? Better be more than good looks, sport, or you’re cactus.