MITCHELL shire’s young people could become a dominant force after they learn skills next week to make a stand for themselves.

Mitchell Shire Council’s youth steering committee and youth development unit have organised a Youth Empowerment Conference in Wallan, which will be a first in the shire to provide young people with the knowledge they need to make changes in their local communities.

Mitchell Shire FReeZA committee member James Finnigan, 21, said the conference was a turning point for the shire.

“This will give the youth a chance to know how they can get involved in their local communities and make changes,” he said.

Mr Finnigan said he knew of cases where young people had come up with ideas, but they didn’t have the knowledge or confidence to push local government for their ideas to become reality.

“There was one case where some youth in the shire wanted to have graffiti street art, but the council opposed it and the youth didn’t know how to keep pushing their idea,” he said.

“The local government is made up of adults who are not always aware of what the youth want, so this conference is a positive for the youth because they will now have a voice and more power.”

The conference will comprise interactive workshops where participants will learn how to lobby government, set up petitions, get public exposure and the Mitchell Youth and Entertainment group will teach confidence building skills.

“There’s a lot of youth in the shire who participate in FReeZA events, but not a lot get involved in the organising, and I think some of them think they don’t have the skills to do it,” Mr Finnigan said.

“I would like to see more youth have the confidence to get involved and have their voices heard.”

Mitchell Shire Council community development co-ordinator Lisa Linton said the ideas presented at workshops throughout the conference would be put together to establish council’s draft youth strategy.

“We want to give our youth a voice because council is made up of adults and it would be a positive step forward to give the youth the knowledge they need to represent themselves to local government,” she said.

“We had a youth forum in 2005 where participants put forward their ideas to council, but this conference is a bit different that the youth won’t just be listened to, they will be empowered.



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“The workshops will be conducted by young people who have had success with their ideas, so our youth can see they too are capable of making changes in their community.”

Comedy group Scared Weird Little Guys will attend the conference on the last day to provide entertainment and there will also be opportunities to watch bands and compete in a karaoke competition.

The conference starts 18 June and runs to 20 June at the Wallan Multi-Purpose Centre.

It is open to 12-25 year olds, but places are limited.