Last week, the Office for Youth hosted around 100 young people from around Australia to celebrate Youth Meets Parliament Week and the annual National Youth Forum.
So strap in as we recap a mammoth week at the Office for Youth!
Youth Meets Parliament Week
From Monday 23 March to Thursday 26 March 2026, members of the Office for Youth, including our Youth Advisory Groups and the Youth Steering Committee, connected with the members and representatives of the Australian Government.
Throughout the week, members participated a bunch of activities designed to build policy engagement and advocacy skills, generate ideas, and inspire solutions to address the issues young people face today.
Some key activities and events include:
- A welcome event at Australian Parliament House, attended by various Members of Parliament and hosted by the Minister for Youth, Senator the Hon Dr Jess Walsh. Attendees had the opportunity to network and ask some insightful questions to their local representatives.
- Opportunities to network and participate in workshops led by department officials. Workshops aimed to build policy capability and allow members to contribute to department action plans and strategies – like the recently published Advice on engaging youth in National Water Agreement (NWA) action plans and Youth water security statement by the Climate Change and Water Youth Advisory Group and Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
- A First Nations Youth Network Day for First Nations members across all advisory groups. Participants undertook a tour of the Aboriginal Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) and participated in two workshops – Creative Connections and Ways of working. Members also met with Ms Sue Hunter, a proud Wurundjeri and Ngurai Illum Wurrung woman and the new National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People!
- In-person meetings with the Minister for Youth and other Ministers who look after the portfolio of our Youth Advisory Groups’ partner departments. This was a great opportunity for members to ask questions about policies and programs affecting young people around the country, from social media minimum age restrictions to international relations.
- A breakfast in the Speaker of the House of Representative’s courtyard, hosted by the Minister for Youth, Senator the Hon Dr Jess Walsh and Senator Charlotte Walker. Participants were able to connect with Members of Parliament, including the Speaker of the House, the Hon Milton Dick MP, where they could informally connect and ask questions about government.
National Youth Forum
A key event was our third National Youth Forum on Wednesday 25 March. This major event provided opportunities for members to share ideas and collaborate on solutions in a policy hackathon!
Members worked in small groups to define and understand a specific problem, unite their different perspectives, and develop ideas that might solve the problem. This year, specific issues were related to:
- Youth mental health
- Arts and culture, and
- the National Environmental Science Program.
Members also heard from the Minister for Youth and a Youth Panel, facilitated by the Department of Education’s Deputy Secretary of Schools and Youth Meg Brighton. The panel shared their experiences working with local, state and federal governments.
Thank you to all the members who took time out of their schedule to come along, collaborate and address the big issues impacting young people today. We were inspired by everyone’s ideas, collaboration and drive to deliver results for young people in Australia.
If you want to catch up on what we got up to during the week, make sure to check out our socials!