Members of the 2009-10 Youth Engagement Steering Committee
Annie Schmitz
Chair
Western Australia
CanTeen
Annie Schmitz, aged 22, is in her first year of a Masters in Organisational Psychology and was recently elected as the Chairman for the AYF Steering Committee. She also sits on the National Board for CanTeen, the Australian organisation for Young People living with cancer, and was elected Chairman and President in 2009. Annie has worked in a range of other youth projects and organisations, and is very passionate about youth advocacy and making valuable change.
Ben Easton
Victoria
Individual Member
Ben, aged 18, is currently attending Year 12.
Ben has been a volunteer with Lead On for the past four years, an organisation that deals with youth matters within his community and organises events for local youth.
Ben is also a member of the Swan Hill Youth Council, and the Blue Light Committee that works with local police to organise underage discos, movie nights and pool parties for local young people.
Blake Cansdale
New South Wales
(Wiradjuri nation)
Linkz Incorporated
Blake, aged 24, is a successful young Indigenous man of the Wiradjuri nation living on the Central Coast of NSW. Blake has recently completed a combined Bachelor Science (major psychology)/Bachelor Law degree at the University of New South Wales. Blake has been a volunteer surf life saver for the preceding 9 years at Ocean Beach SLSC, during which time he has also been a successful surf boat rower. In 2004 Blake was selected to represent Australia in the Australasian Pan Pacific Surf Live Saving Championships held in Japan in 2004.
Blake is currently employed with Legal Aid New South Wales as a cadet solicitor and Linkz Inc. where he works closely with Indigenous youth in remote communities. He also volunteers with Mingaletta Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation on the Central Coast of NSW.
Blake was nominated to the AYF Steering Committee by Linkz Inc, a not for profit organisation that has been established to create connections and partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians with a particular focus on youth.
David Barrow
New South Wales
National Union of Students
David Barrow, aged 23, was the 2009 President of the National Union of Students, studying Media Arts and Production/International Studies (France) at the University of Technology, Sydney. Formerly president of the UTS Union Board and the NSW Branch of the National Union of Students, David has had five years experience organising and representing students, working on issues such as student poverty, high tuition fees, quality assurance, VSU, transport concession cards and ending discrimination against international students.
Before university, David was the president of the Gosford City Youth Council on the Central Coast, a scout, involved in school and community theatre and heavily engaged in the Sydney Globe Shakespeare Company. David continues to be involved in the Uniting Church, works as an usher at the Sydney Theatre Company and is actively engaged in his union, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA).
David was nominated to the AYF Steering Committee by the National Union of Students.
Desmond (Des) Campbell
Northern Territory
(Gurindji Tribe of Central Aust)
Individual Member
Des, aged 25, is currently in the second year of his Bachelor of Community Management and has been able to put theory into practice in his role as a Youth and Education Project Officer for both Federal and Northern Territory Governments. Through his current role, Des has been actively delivering community projects encouraging parents to be more involved in the children's education.
Des is a proud young Aboriginal and comes from the Ngalakan people of East Arnhem Land on his Mother’s side and the Gurindji Tribe on his Father’s side. An advocate for Indigenous Rights, Des actively participates in ensuring this is protected through various forums and committees. Des currently provides youth representation in his role as a member of the NT Red Cross Board as well as the NT Red Cross Youth Advisory Council. In 2009, Des was named the Top End NAIDOC Youth of the Year for his involvement and commitment to Indigenous youth and the community.
Duncan Lockard
New South Wales
The Oaktree Foundation
Duncan, aged 24, is completing a combined degree in Mechanical Engineering and Commerce at the University of Sydney, currently writing a thesis applying educational theories to acknowledge management practices in multinational engineering organisations. Duncan has worked in and led a number of youth-based endeavours, incorporating aid and development work, church ministry, camps and conferences, and university work. He currently works casually as an Analyst at the University of Sydney’s Strategic Planning Office.
Duncan has been nominated for the AYF Steering Committee by the Oaktree Foundation, of which he is the Chief Operations Officer. Oaktree is young people working together to end global poverty. It was founded in 2003 and as an aid and development organisation run entirely by youth volunteers, partnering with developing communities to provide quality educational opportunities to those that need it most. Oaktree believes that education is the most powerful force we have to change the world.
Eva Mackinley
Tasmania
Individual Member
Eva is 20 years old and lives in Tasmania. Over the last 5 years she has been working as a volunteer in the youth and community sector, primarily in youth empowerment and resilience. Eva is currently involved with organisations like Oaktree, Vision Generation, AYCC, Unifem, Tasmanian Youth Forum, Act Now, Our Young Heroes and her own project Leaders of Today, a movement of young Tasmanians working to build resilience and empowerment within our generation using innovative programs. She loves being busy and creating space to inspire people to be their best. Her greatest belief is the power of her generation to become strong leaders and inheritors of this world, and that innovation is the best way toward a prosperous future.
Mitchell Wall
Australian Capital Territory
Australian Youth Affairs Coalition
Mitchell, aged 23, has worked extensively in the area of youth advocacy. His primary focus to date has been the challenge of contributing to an equitable health and education strategy, especially from a youth perspective, and the associated issue of strengthening social and family support structures in communities, regardless of cultural or socio-economic differences. To meet this goal he has served on various state and national advisory boards, including Beyondblue, NSW Red Cross, Headspace and the Australian Youth Climate Coalition as well as two peak organizations, The National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum and the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition (AYAC).
Awards include the John Broughton Scholarship for Leadership, the Newcastle Young Citizen of the Year Award and being named as one of Australia’s Brightest Young Minds by the Brightest Young Minds Foundation in 2007. Mitchell nominates hiking the Kokoda Track to raise funds for the Mental Health Research Institute as one of his most memorable achievements.
Mitchell has been nominated for the AYF Steering Committee by AYAC. AYAC aims to represent the rights and interests of young people at a national and international level, providing policy advice to government and the broader community on issues affecting the youth sector. During his time on the AYF, Mitchell hopes to further promote the informed participation of all young Australians in shaping their own communities and their broader futures.
Nyadol Nyuon
Victoria
Individual Member
Nyadol, aged 21, has worked hard since her arrival in Australia four years ago, to raise awareness of issues affecting the lives of African youth migrating to Australia. She has been heavily involved in the community and is a spokesperson for refugees. Nyadol was born in Sudan and raised in refugee camps, an experience she shares with many African-Australian young people. In 2009, Nyadol finalised a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Psychology.
Rachel Farley
New South Wales
Individual Member
Rachel, aged 19, is in her first year of study at the University of Wollongong. She is currently studying a Bachelor or International Studies and a Bachelor of Communications and Media, with a particular interest in politics and social justice.
Rachel has been volunteering with the Australian Red Cross Blood Service for several years and has been involved in the High School 2020 Youth Summit and the National Aspiring Leaders Summit.
Having grown up in Braidwood, NSW, a small country town, Rachel hopes to be able to bring some perspective of the difficulties facing rural youth and is excited to be continuing on with the AYF in 2010.
Rebecca Richards
South Australia
(Adnyamathanha Aboriginal woman)
Individual Member
Rebecca, aged 23, is an Adnyamathanha Aboriginal woman. Her homeland is in the Northern Flinders Ranges in SA. Rebecca graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Anthropology from the University of Adelaide in 2009.
Rebecca is an Indigenous Cadet Project Officer for the Principal Advisor to the Director (Indigenous) at the National Museum of Australia. She has been involved in Indigenous affairs as a Native Title mediation representative, Aboriginal Legal Rights Intern, Australian delegate to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 2009 in New York, and Australian delegate to the 2009 Oxfam Gender and Culture Workshops in South Africa. She is also currently completing an Honours degree in Anthropology at The University of Adelaide and a research internship at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.
Richard Newnham
Western Australia
Left Right Think-Tank
Richard, 21, is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of the
Left Right Think-Tank, Australia’s first independent and non-partisan think-tank of young minds.
Founded in early 2008, Left Right’s mission is to involve young people in public policy. Its vision is for a society that seeks and embraces the ideas of young people.
Richard is a final year student at The University of Western Australia where he studies Commerce. In 2007/08 Richard was the senior Army Cadet for Australia where he was responsible for representing the interests of over 16,500 cadets nationwide to the Chief of Army in the position of National Cadet Under Officer.
In March 2009 Richard travelled to London as Australia’s Youth Representative for Commonwealth Day. Richard is a Board Member of the Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia and is a previous delegate to the National Student Leadership Forum.
Sophie Weldon
New South Wales
Vibewire
Sophie, aged 20, is a graduate of the Australian, Film, Television and Radio School and is currently doing a Bachelor of International and Global Studies at the University of Sydney.
In 2005, Sophie was appointed a Special Youth Representative for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Australia for UNHCR), one of only two in the world. In 2006, Sophie won the only scholarship for Australia to study at the prestigious Atlantic College in Wales, UK, for which Nelson Mandela is the honorary president. The college brings students from over 75 different countries to live and learn together and to challenge themselves and their world.
In a recent visit to the UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva, Sophie presented her paper calling for the establishment of a youth organisation within the UNHCR. She was the first young person to be given permission by this global organisation to start a pilot youth program. Youth for UNHCR will aim to provide young people with the opportunity to engage with the work of the UN refugee Agency and the plight of refugees worldwide.
Sophie has been nominated for the AYF Steering Committee by Vibewire, of which she is an Ambassador. Vibewire Youth Services is a non-profit, volunteer-based youth organisation, dedicated to providing increased opportunities for Australia's youth to express themselves, communicate and create relationships with one-another, access relevant information and services and play a more visible role in presenting and defining their (sub) culture. Across the media spectrum, Vibewire creates platforms for young people to address issues they are passionate about, while at the same time assists them to build their skills and talents in a supportive and creative environment.
Tahlia Azaria
Victoria
Student Youth Network Media
(SYN Media)
Tahlia, aged 23, has been nominated to the AYF Steering Committee by SYN Media, where she is a member of the Board of Directors. SYN Media began broadcasting in January 2003 and is Melbourne’s premier youth media organisation. The organisation engages young people in a range of media-making and training activities, centred on community radio and television and online media platforms.
Tahlia has extensive experience in the community media sector, having worked at community television station Channel 31 Melbourne and not-for-profit youth music organisation The Push along with her voluntary work at SYN Media. Tahlia started her media career at SYN Media while completing a Bachelor of Communication in Journalism at RMIT University. Tahlia has produced a number of TV and radio programs for SYN and Channel 31; most recently a seven part parody travel show TV series called Postcodes and award-winning live weekday breakfast program Get Cereal TV. Tahlia is passionate about providing media access and training to young people and under represented areas of the community.
