Written by AYAC, this Australian Government Publication provides examples of youth engagement approaches from across the Commonwealth on how young people engage with other young people to develop and progress campaigns, activities or causes in the communities and countries in which they live.

Senator Matt Thistlethwaite, Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs launched the New energy, ideas and perspectives – How young people are creating change across the Commonwealth guide on Wednesday 16 April 2013 at the 8th Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting in Papua New Guinea.

To check out the full guide follow this link: http://www.ayac.org.au/newideas.html

Please note the publication is also available at www.youth.gov.au

There are so many amazing guides and toolkits out there on involving and supporting young people in decision making. But not everyone knows where to find these, and it can be difficult to decide which one's the best fit for your group or project. That why AYAC recently completed the first ever database of youth participation resources in Australia, where you can browse over 100 different resources by various characteristics, and find the perfect guide for what you're trying to accomplish.

We'll be updating it regularly with new resources as they get sent to us, so be sure to check back in often.

Get started right away here: ayac.org.au/participationguides

A report into the possibility of facilitating Indigenous youth participation and engagement in the area of natural resource management has been released by the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research at the Australian National University.

The report looks at the problem of Indigenous unemployment and non-engagement in training and education, not only here in Australia but also in North America, and ways to try and re-engage Indigenous young people. It examines in detail three specific types of engagement operating in Australia:

• junior ranger programs (also called ‘Learning through country’ programs)
• the Indigenous Ranger Cadetship Program for secondary students (starting in 2013)
• the role of the resource extraction industries.

The authors stress that ‘both western science and Indigenous ecological knowledge perspectives are required for effective land management practices by Indigenous people’. They see big opportunities for programs of this type, but also say that Indigenous elders need to be involved for the programs to successfully engage young people.

Anyone working with young Aboriginal people in the area of youth engagement and training for future employment will find this 28-page report interesting reading. It can be downloaded from the Australian Policy Online web page listed below.

http://apo.org.au/research/indigenous-youth-engagement-natural-resource-management-australia-and-north-america-review

(Source: Youth Field Express, November 2012)