Sometimes the challenges that face young people (e.g. homelessness, racism, poverty) are too overwhelming¹ for them to face alone or even with the help of a single service.  So WHAT DO WE DO?

1. We SPEAK OUT.
2. We CONNECT with young people and others in the community speaking out about the same thing.
3. Through those connections, we come up with a PLAN and put it into ACTION.

YANQ has developed the Youth Consultative Network to make this process easier.

SPEAK OUT using the Youth Consultative Network

1. Attend your local youth interagency or network and get this group talking about the main challenges facing young people² .
2. Get the group to prioritise (narrow down) all the issues/challenges to six - 3 challenges facing young people and 3 challenges facing their services.  YANQ has developed some resources to help with this.
   
3. Once you've prioritised your issues fill out the form at www.yanq.org.au/ycnform³ .

If enough (10 or more) networks send this information to YANQ then we will make sure that the relevant decision makers (in Government or elsewhere) are informed.  We'll even post their responses on our website for you.

YANQ will also pull together a brief response ourselves to some of the issues that the networks raise.  We can't respond to every issue, but we will try our best to get you some up-to-date information about the issues you've raised.

CONNECT with others

Every 6 months YANQ will prepare a report detailing all of the issues and challenges that networks and interagencies across the state are raising. You can use this report to connect⁴ with other networks identifying similar issues and share ideas about how to address the challenges you have in common.

Come up with a PLAN and put it into ACTION

If your network, either on its own or with others, is taking steps to address other significant challenges facing young people or youth services, let us know. Simply e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and we can share your ideas with others and by doing this help raise the profile of your actions and connect you with more resources.

YANQ is already doing this on 2 issues that have been identified through the Youth Consultative Network - the lack of support for young people disengaged from education and training, and the challenge of recruiting and retaining staff in the non-government human services.

For More Information

Contact YANQ's Policy Coordinator on 07 3844 7713 or via e-mail to policy at yanq dot org dot au.

1. Overwhelmed by Uncle Ariel on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
2.If there isn't an interagency or network near you, talk to your colleagues and set one up (and let us know).
3. If you're a new interagency, you'll have to let us know you exist before you can use this form.
4. Networking by paal on Flickr. Some rights reserved.