YANQ's Values

A great strength in human beings is their combination of individual uniqueness and the commonalities they share with others. Everyone has an inner strength. Everyone has the ability to give and receive. Everyone has the potential to be kind and sharing. In order to bring out the best in people, it is important that YANQ, and society at large, recognise the potential and worth of each person. This includes young women and young men. Unfortunately, social processes and constructs undermine the ability of some to act on their potential and have their worth recognised.

Human beings are essentially social beings. Everyone has a place in the community, and should have the means to connect with significant others. The behaviour of individuals is affected by their background and experience, therefore is important that people's history be acknowledged. If each person is accepted at face value, and others focus on building relationships designed to understand them, then the true collective nature of human kind can come to the fore. That's why, at YANQ, we are committed to approaching people with an attitude of curiosity; an enthusiasm to discover their learning; an excitement about supporting them to find their particular place in the community.

Each human being is entitled to have their fundamental rights fulfilled. At the very least, everyone is absolutely entitled:

• to be heard and listened to,
• to have the necessary information to make informed life decisions,
• to be involved in decision making affecting their life,
• to food, shelter and clothing,
• to access free health care and education,
• to associate freely with people of their choice,
• to live free of categorisation or labelling,
• to equal remuneration for equal work, and,
• to sufficient financial support to ensure they do not live in poverty.

If, as a society, we fail to meet the basic rights and needs of our members, this can be expected to create individual fear and social instability. Society has exactly the same responsibilities to young people as to adults or any other group.

We recognise the mutual obligation between society and its members. Mutual obligation occurs when rights and responsibilities are equally balanced. Accordingly, it is only when someone's basic human rights are fulfilled that they can be expected to take full social responsibility.

Unfortunately, young people's rights are not currently being met. Young people are people who have not yet fulfilled social expectations of adulthood. Whilst formal government policy currently defines young people as aged 12 – 25, a variety of groups and cultures understand youth as anywhere up to age 40. Despite coming from varied social, gender and cultural backgrounds, they are currently classified as a group with assumed common needs. Young people are made vulnerable because they are not viewed as full citizens. They are discriminated against, and are frequently excluded from decisions affecting their lives. In fact, many are more competent than their elders.

Young people reflect the same diversity as the rest of the community. Each young person is unique. Each person is entitled to have their cultural differences and beliefs acknowledged and respected. That's why racism, sexism and other forms of structural oppression are unacceptable. Individual young women and men's experience of oppression varies according to their situation and treatment within society. Current constructions of young people as a group need to be changed to ensure they benefit young people, rather than other interest groups.

YANQ actively promotes, supports and respects multiculturalism, in its widest sense. For society to function effectively, differences must be embraced, acknowledged and understood. We will strive to enhance the living standards of young people, regardless of their cultural and ethnic backgrounds. When undertaking any work affecting a particular cultural community, we are obliged to negotiate closely with its members.

Indigenous Acknowledgement

We believe that the primary culture of Australia is of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. We recognise that Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and South Sea Islander peoples are 3 separate cultures. We recognise Aboriginal people as the permanent custodians of mainland Australia and Torres Strait Islanders as permanent custodians of the Torres Strait Islands that are an integral part of Australia, including those areas of land and sea whose owners have been wiped out as a result of racist policies and acts. We use the term custodianship in the context of protection and care for the land. YANQ is committed to respecting individuals, Murri and Islander communities. We seek to understand their responses to policies and issues affecting them. We are committed to learning about their understandings of the impact of decisions on them. YANQ apologises for the past and present social mistreatment of Murri and Islander people created by colonization, and is committed to supporting the healing process.

We see a focus on reconciliation with indigenous people as providing a model for other areas of action. An explicit, transparent and vocal commitment to reconciliation is essential in the current political context of avoiding the real issues. A critical part of this is to understand the language of reconciliation for indigenous people; to explore and value concerns about reconciliation amongst indigenous people. YANQ will build relationships with Murri and Islander people and will undertake ongoing work alongside them, toward reconciliation.

We seek a society which is inclusive of all. Everyone has the right to be part of any decisions with an impact on their life. Decision making and change processes should enable all affected to air their views, and have them heard and validated. Power cannot be shared, without sharing information. Like everyone else, young people have a right to participate actively in a society which values them. Individual growth and social development are strongly interdependent. Therefore we will support individual and social development through encouraging direct action and participation by young people in society.

Other groups in society can learn from young people. Each young person has their own particular experiences, in some cases, more than some of their elders. Each has made contributions to the community. Limited experience is not the same as lack of ability. Young people are capable of understanding issues and contributing to change. Young women and young men are experts in their own lives.

Governments are responsible for ensuring that the rights of all members of society are met. They should ensure that all people, irrespective of background, can share in a safe and sustainable environment. Governments should ensure fair and just structures are developed for all people to enjoy, irrespective of background. A key goal of society should be to work toward strengthening its ability to provide outcomes of equal value for all its members.

Human beings are fundamentally equal, however some sections of our society have never had the same level of access to social resources. Amongst these we particularly recognise that young women are an oppressed group, due to the patriarchal construct of Western society, and that all young people are oppressed by the very society that has socially constructed their membership of this category. In order to mend this imbalance, particular attention must be given to these groups by the State and other sections of our society. YANQ believes that the primary role of governments is to provide support and services that address shortfalls in the needs and rights of their citizens.

YANQ is committed to positive discrimination on behalf of oppressed groups in society. Affirmative action is necessary for groups that are socially and culturally disadvantaged, to enable them to access the additional opportunities required to catch up with those who are more fortunate. We believe we have an obligation to prioritise resourcing those people who are not structurally supported within this society. YANQ will lead the Youth Sector (comprising young people, paid and unpaid youth workers and youth organisations) in recognising the interests of individuals and groups whom mainstream organisations and services do not serve.

Currently, governments in Australia see their role as supporting global economic interests, and stopping the voices of those who challenge this priority. A continued government preoccupation with capitalist interests provides no room for significant improvements in the quality of life of those members of society who currently miss out. Our role as a peak body, requires that we seek to influence public agendas as they affect the Youth Sector, through both reacting to proposed changes, and initiating social changes in the interests of the Sector. YANQ is committed to exploring alternative means to enable more equitable distribution of economic resources.

Change is a fluid phenomenon, and influencing it requires ongoing vigilance and reflection. Culture and society are continually being reinvented, therefore change is not only possible, it is inevitable. We are concerned with ensuring that changes which occur contribute to an ongoing process of social improvement.

Constructive social change happens most effectively when people work together rather than in isolation. By bringing the full breadth of youth organisations and workers under one umbrella and giving young people a voice, we seek to increase the chances of achieving social change toward a common goal. We are obliged to speak out in the interest of particularly disadvantaged groups of young people, or young people as a whole, in an uncompromising and committed manner.

We seek fairness and justice not only in the outcomes of change processes, but in the way these processes are implemented. All stakeholders need to be open to learning and change before they can legitimately expect it in others. That's why we are committed to a culture of openness and transparency in all YANQ's activities. It is only through retaining faith with the Youth Sector, that the breadth of the Sector will trust the organisation and become involved in collective action toward improving society for young people and other socially disadvantaged groups.

YANQ is responsible for being a strong public voice in the interest of young people. We have a moral responsibility to promote positive public images of young people. We must be willing to fight for the rights of oppressed groups and not tolerate any form of abuse of members of our society. We see public protest as one active way of drawing attention to issues and creating community awareness of the need for change. We are committed to standing up and voicing our concern whether through media or other actions against decisions made which operate against the interests of young people or the wider society.

We believe that lobbying and advocacy are key tools in achieving a socially just society. YANQ is committed to lobbying governments and policy makers to bring about social change, and to seeking the resources to educate the wider community about issues particularly affecting young people. Decision making structures and processes that generally exclude oppressed groups need to be lobbied so the voice of excluded groups are heard and kept on the agenda. In particular, YANQ has a responsibility to advocate for individuals and groups in the Youth Sector that cannot act on their own behalf. (This may be due to structural exclusion, funding, organisational or other constraints.) We are committed to identifying issues affecting young people which require attention, and lobbying for the resources needed to research and further explore these areas. In all our lobbying and advocacy activities, we are committed to ensuring that achieving the rights of young people remains our primary motivator and agenda; that these are never watered down or put aside.

We recognise the body of evidence available through those working most closely with the issues affecting particular groups of young people. We value the experience of youth workers and the knowledge they have of particular groups of young people. In particular, we recognise that young people, youth workers and youth organisations are in the best position to identify service provision gaps. We aim to continue to gather a diverse range of members, and involve them at all levels in the organisation, in order to ensure the ongoing currency and accountability of our work. In particular, we aim to ensure young people's continued involvement, and encourage other organisations in the Youth Sector to do likewise. YANQ seeks to model a constructive and respectful way of responding to all feedback, including criticism. In order to be a really strong and effective organisation, YANQ needs to be open to hearing and processing criticisms from many sources, and taking on board constructive ideas.

YANQ values the role of networking as a means of supporting and resourcing the Youth Sector. Relationships with our networks and members inform our work. Relationship building is therefore essential to enhancing and legitimising our individual and collective efforts, and ensuring the currency of our responses. In order to achieve social change through collective action, YANQ needs to strengthen the networks across the State and explore and promote collective activism across the sector. This requires YANQ to be flexible and institute mechanisms that enable maximum possible ownership and a variety of ways to participate in the organisation, by the Sector. In order to fulfil our role as a progressive and innovative organisation, we must continually explore and promote new strategies, mediums and technologies to enable our active engagement with the Youth Sector.

We seek to maintain the same flexibility and openness in our relations within YANQ. We are committed to enabling organisational staff, Management Committee and ordinary members to participate in a manner consistent with their life circumstances, including their geographical location, health and family status. We believe that both Management Committee members and staff have an equally valid and valuable contribution to make to the organisation. YANQ is committed to the ongoing professional development and support of all who work for the organisation.

Ultimately, YANQ's credibility depends on practicing what we preach. We recognise that YANQ should treat others in the way we would like to be treated - that is, with consistency and integrity. Just as we want society to take the needs of its members seriously, we seek to actively value our members' contributions. We aim to build and maintain an organisational culture which enables a sense of ownership amongst YANQ members, and operates alongside members in a collaborative and consensual way. This is essential to standing together in seeking to achieve our shared Vision and goals. In summary, YANQ is committed to applying these values in everything we say and do.

And Our Vision to the Year 2010 is ...

... very difficult to develop, because the future for the youth sector is inextricably bound to the future of society as a whole. Our worst fear is that society will continue to move in the direction already critiqued in Our Values ... toward increasing the gap between the haves and have nots in society. In 2010, we could be living in a society where ...

• social and economic resources are even more inequitably distributed,
• we continue to abuse the environment, and place the future of the human race in further jeopardy,
• monoculture continues to be promoted, and we lose the opportunity to embrace the rich cultural diversity available within Australia,
• increasing individualism and social isolation (enhanced by an unprincipled implementation of information technology) undermines any potential for community life and collective action to improve society, and,
• we continue to alienate young people, rather than valuing their contribution and potential.

YANQ is committed to focussing on contributing to the development of a better Australia over the next 10 years. If we focus on our fears, we run the risk of being a pessimistic organisation with limited capacity to fight for a better world for young people and the community as a whole. We seek to turn threats into opportunities; to model working in a way which achieves genuine social change; to continue to be an agent of positive social, economic and political change with and for young people.

Between now and 2010, YANQ will promote the interests of the youth sector, particularly the interests of disadvantaged and marginalised young people, throughout Queensland. In the Year 2010, YANQ will still be an effective peak body for the youth sector, recognised as a force to be reckoned with. As the lead agency in youth affairs in Queensland, we will have contributed to building a strong and coherent youth sector in this State. By raising awareness and challenging social stigmas about young people, we will be at the forefront of promoting positive images of young people to the wider community. YANQ will play a pivotal role in fostering a cultural paradigm shift that embraces diversity and changes our current monocultural social and institutional context into a more inclusive one. We will proactively and systematically use all means at our disposal to achieve social justice.

By the Year 2010, the participation of young people, particularly disadvantaged and marginalised young people, in YANQ and the wider community will have increased significantly. Young people will be recognised as having an important role in decision making in society and YANQ will lead by example. The contribution of young women and men will be valued, leading to their inclusion in all aspects of decision making, within and beyond YANQ. We will continue to play a key role in supporting and resourcing young people as they become more involved in decision making processes, and will influence policy development in a range of areas to ensure young people's participation is further valued and encouraged. YANQ will continue to advocate for collective self advocacy by young people through developing pathways that enable young people to have a voice in decision making processes at all levels of society. Through these means, YANQ will be working more with young people to hold government accountable for delivery of social justice - rather than working with government to bring control over young people. Key measures of our success will be the increasing proportion of YANQ's members and subscribers are young people and individuals who were young members, and the existence of an adequately resourced, ongoing youth consultative mechanism facilitated by YANQ.

Between now and 2010, YANQ will advocate with and for young people, particularly disadvantaged and marginalised young people. We will make a major contribution to freedom from abusive, exploitative and punitive systems and policies for all young people. YANQ will support young women and young men from a variety of backgrounds to play a leading role in decisions affecting their lives. We will resource young people to find their own solutions, recognising that they are experts in their own lives. We will focus on working toward social, cultural, political and economic equity for all in the community through addressing the needs and rights of young people and challenging inequitable practices. YANQ will advocate for young people's rights at all levels of government. YANQ will resource both young people's groups directly and groups which support young people, particularly encouraging the development of support groups at a local level.

YANQ will continue to lobby to achieve long term social change in the interest of young people, particularly disadvantaged and marginalised young people. As a result of our advocacy work, more doors will be open for negotiation in 2010. Reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians is fundamental to the improvement of Australia's social fabric. YANQ will continue to assist in this process through a variety of means, including encouragement and support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants at all levels of the organisation. YANQ will act to address the cultural and social needs of young people by lobbying government in a variety of ways, including media, advocacy and social action. We will continue to challenge all levels of government, irrespective of party politics, from a clear and consistent values base with vigour, commitment and courage. We will be widely known as the peak body for the non-government youth sector in Queensland - at a government and community level, and throughout the youth sector. Due to our close relationships with other State youth sector peaks and national youth organisations, we will actively contribute to placing youth issues high on the Federal Government agenda.

YANQ will support and encourage the development of new means of meeting the rights and needs of young people, particularly disadvantaged and marginalised young people. We will incorporate the needs and rights of young people into all our issues-based policies, and seek the resources to monitor the extent to which these are addressed by government and the wider community. We will facilitate and promote the development of innovative forms of youth work practice and will encourage the implementation of new models and approaches. Our creative approach to youth issues will include learning from other cultures and experimenting with ways of doing things differently. This will include using information technology as a tool for communicating with a wide audience. We will actively seek funds for projects that focus on groups that are marginalised and oppressed.

Between now and 2010, YANQ will contribute to the development of the youth sector through networking, research and information provision. We will undertake consultation designed to gather a range of ideas and perspectives with stakeholders in key issues affecting young people. YANQ will further contribute to development of the youth sector through undertaking research and providing integrated development opportunities designed to encourage exploration of values across the sector. We will support the development of research and programs to address identified gaps in the youth sector, and continue to inform the youth sector and young people on issues that affect them. As a result of our promotion of best practice for youth workers and others who work with young people, YANQ will be seen as the central point for access to realistic evidence on the needs of young people. By 2010 YANQ will be more active in working with other sectors to provide services with a Statewide impact, and facilitate information sharing and cooperation between Statewide groups addressing issues affecting the youth sector. As a result of our endeavours, and widespread promotion, the youth sector and wider community will have a better knowledge of YANQ.

A key role of YANQ will continue to be the development of policies on issues affecting the youth sector. We will proactively develop policies on issues affecting young people in a way that is consistent with our values both in terms of the content of the policies, and the way we develop them. This will include the active participation of young people in policy development. Our focus on issues affecting those young people who are disadvantaged and marginalised will ensure that YANQ plays a key role in the development of multicultural policy that is responsive to the full range of culturally diverse young people in Queensland. By 2010, YANQ will be widely recognised as an credible source of information and an important resource in formulation of viable youth policy. We will continue to be at the forefront of positive changes affecting young people at the policy level.

In order to achieve this vision it is critical that YANQ has adequate resources to properly address issues affecting the youth sector. By 2010, YANQ will have matured into a sustainable structure with sufficient resources to truly represent and advocate on behalf of the non-government youth sector. In particular, dedicated staff will be able to focus on addressing issues affecting non-English speaking background, indigenous and rural/remote young women and men. Government and the corporate sector will provide the funds young people need to act collectively on issues affecting them. We will have spent considerable resources on ensuring effective organisational processes and healthy internal relationships, thus demonstrating a model organisation which can provide an example of inclusive, values-driven practice to the whole youth sector. Our very public role in promoting youth affairs to government and the broader community will attract the resources we require to continue to fulfil our role.

At all levels, YANQ will function in a manner consistent with Our Values and Vision. These Values and Vision will provide a firm foundation for the functioning of YANQ for the first decade of the new millennium. They will provide a base for development of sound, long term relationships between YANQ and our increasing and widening membership. Member organisations will progressively develop their own articulated values bases which are compatible with YANQ's, thus enabling us to take a leading role in the development of a youth sector values base in the Year 2010.