This is the third year that the Moira Junior Council has been giving young people experience in decision making. With seven secondary colleges in the Shire, there are 42 Junior Councillors. Each school has six representatives, three from Year 9 and three from Year 10, and one teacher coordinator.
“The students stay on the Council for two years,” said Kaye Thomson, Manager Community Services. “Each year half the Council changes with three Year 9 students elected at each school to join the Year 10 Junior Councillors who have already had 12 months experience. The Year 10 students can then assist the Year 9 Councillors in adapting to their new role.”
Kaye Thomson believes that the Junior Council is starting to hit the mark with what young people need to know about the role and function of Local Government.
“Last year we asked the Junior Councillors what were the main things Council does,” she said. “They were able to say it collects rates, picks up rubbish and runs the Junior Council. This demonstrated how little they knew about the total operations of Council, so we organised a bus tour of the Shire visiting various towns and Council facilities.”
Kaye Thomson said that feedback from the students indicated that the tour had opened their eyes, particularly to the range of employment opportunities available in Local Government.
“They realised they could go away to study and then come back to a job in their own area,” she said. The Junior Council holds full day meetings several times a year. The next meeting will be entirely on the issue of water, including the Living Murray, irrigation and domestic consumption, and how to conserve and protect this vital resource.
Two Junior Councillors are representatives on the Community Safety Committee, while others were involved in a recent Health Needs Forum. At a recent Community Safety Forum it was the Junior Councillors who pointed out that while it is important to educate children about drug and alcohol abuse, we also need to consider the behaviour of adults because they are the role models.
At the next Junior Council meeting, the Junior Councillors will be provided with a $1M hypothetical budget to spend on Council priorities. It is hoped this will give them an understanding of the complexities of how Council budget decisions are made.
The Junior Council has its own budget of $4,000. Much of this is spent on buses to enable students from across the Shire to attend the Junior Council meetings. Each year, it also organises a ‘Kruiza’ youth event. Usually a bus trip to Melbourne, young people in the Shire are invited to book for this on a first in basis.
