Wheatbelt Youth Leadership Development Team
The Commissioner’s regional Advisory Committee for 2011-12 is the WYLD (Wheatbelt Youth Leadership Development) Team.
The WYLD team is made up of young people who work towards making the Wheatbelt a better place to live and grow.
As a sub-group of Regional Development Australia’s Wheatbelt Committee, the WYLD team has representatives from the many of the region’s 43 shires.
The team undertake a range of projects and activities to provide young people with an opportunity to develop skills, abilities and networks to make a contribution to their community and region.
Us and Our Community project
WYLD held the ‘Youthbiz’ Youth Summit in conjunction with the Cunderdin Agricultural College as a capacity-building opportunity for local youth.
The summit brought hundreds of young people from Wheatbelt high schools to network, hear from inspiring speakers and participate in skills workshops and consultations.
The WYLD Team used this opportunity to undertake a consultation for their ‘Us and Our Community’ project. Through the ‘Dream Tank’ exercise, participants aged 13 to 17 years shared their views about what needs to be done to improve life in the Wheatbelt for young people.
They also noted their aspirations and goals for the future.
Wheatbelt Youth Summit Report
Activities
September 2011
The WYLD Team attended the Wheatbelt Youth Summit 'Youth Biz' at the Cunderdin Agricultural College on 23 September.
Around 400 young people from 19 Whealtbelt high schools took part in networking opportunities, skills development workshops and heard from guest speakers.
Many participants shared their views about living in the Wheatbelt and issues that affect them in an interative consulation called the the 'Dream Tank', which was coordinated by the WYLD Team.
The information gathered in this activity informed the group's 'Us and Our Community' report to the Commissioner.
August 2011
The Commissioner travelled to Northam to meet with the WYLD Team. As with the metropolitan Advisory Committee, the WYLD Team undertook projects that reported on the views of young people in the community and provide feedback on some of the Commissioner's projects.
Advisory Committee members spoke of the positive apects of living in the Wheatbelt, such as the strong sense of community.
They also discussed challenges they face and put forward ideas for what would make their communities better for children and young people. Some suggestions included a cinema, better transport options, designated BMX and dirt bike tracks and more informal centres where young people could meet.
The Advisory Committee planned for the Wheatbelt Youth Summit "Youth Biz", which took place in Cunderdin in September 2011, attracting young people from across the region. As part of this event, the Advisory Committee undertook a special consultation with their peers called the Dream Tank. This activity gave participants an opportunity share their views on what is important to them and will contribute to the WYLD Team's "Us in Our Community" project for the Commissioner.