At the Mount Gambier Show in October 2006, the District Council of Grant’s Youth Advisory Committee (DCGYAC) handed out free YAC Packs to youth from the Limestone Coast region of South Australia.
Council’s Youth Development Officer and YAC Coordinator, Callena Rawlings, works with local young people, schools and youth agencies to develop youth initiatives and raise the profile of youth issues in the district. She said DCGYAC works to provide an advocacy service for all young people in the District Council of Grant, by identifying and addressing their needs in practical ways.
“We meet about once a month to discuss issues facing youth in our area and also the means of improving services to our young people,” she said. “The group identified a lack of access to resources as a major problem and devised the idea of a show bag to address this.”
YAC members spent three months approaching businesses, government and non government organisations collecting and collating information relevant to younger residents for inclusion in the free show bags. One DCGYAC member, Jason Virgo, said the initiative was a great success.
“YAC was contacted by many young people and parents who wished to thank us for putting together the packs,” he said. “They were full to overflowing with wristbands, stickers, tattoos, vouchers, rulers, pencils and other promotional material for a wide range of youth agencies and support services. The show bags also contained information about healthy eating, mental and sexual health, negative effects of substance abuse, and education and training resources for young people. They were really effective as all information was in the one place. We are now planning another pack for 2007.”
The DCGYAC comprises around ten young people aged between 12 and 25 years. The committee was established in 2002, and has the benefit of elected member representation. Two Councillors provide support and mentoring, and bring youth related matters to DCGYAC, who then formulate means of addressing these issues.
Currently, DCGYAC is actively addressing ongoing vandalism in Port MacDonnell.
“We feel that vandalism is just a symptom of the bigger issues for rural youth, such as boredom, isolation and negative stereotypes,” Callena Rawlings said. “Providing security lighting for the area is a practical solution, but it will not address the issue of why individuals are vandalise property – it will merely push their negative behaviours to other unlit areas.
“Our youth are currently involved in a project to encourage the development of street furniture for the area. We hope this will foster pride in their achievements and therefore their community. In turn, we hope it will also reduce acts of destruction and vandalism caused by boredom.”
