WA Youth Action Plan 2024-2027 - Frequently asked questions

Koorlangka Bidi sets out the actions the government will take to achieve improved outcomes for young people in Western Australia over the next three years.

Guiding the actions is a vision for: A Western Australia where all young people matter, and feel and are valued and included, supported to achieve their goals, empowered to shape the world they live in, and lead meaningful and fulfilling lives.

Throughout the consultation process for Koorlangka Bidi, 2,271 young people from across Western Australia shared what was most important to them and what action State Government could take to support young people to thrive.

Through a collaborative whole-of-government effort, Koorlangka Bidi will drive initiatives across six focus areas based on the issues young people in WA identified as being most important to them.

The name of the Youth Action Plan is ‘Koorlangka Bidi’, which translates to ‘young people’s path’ in Noongar language.

Young people were invited to share name ideas for the Youth Action Plan and Communities received more than 428 submissions. ‘Koorlangka Bidi’ was voted as the favourite option by young people.

The young person who suggested this name, Amani Karuiki, noted that, “It would be a great opportunity to incorporate First Nations language into something as important as this Youth Action Plan.” While the young person who suggested this name resides on Noongar Country, we recognise the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples, communities and culture throughout Western Australia and would like to acknowledge the many other languages and dialects.

The State Government’s previous “Beyond 2020: WA Youth Action Plan 2020-2022” concluded at the end of 2022. It was focused on supporting young people during the COVID-19 pandemic. The world has changed a lot since it was released in 2021.

In 2023, the State Government committed to developing a new State-wide Youth Action Plan and collecting fresh perspectives on how we can make Western Australia a better place for young people.

The focus of Koorlangka Bidi is on universal youth services which are open to all young people aged 10 to 25 years old and support the following focus areas of the Youth portfolio:

• Youth development – to support young people to attain life skills, develop the knowledge and confidence needed to be involved in community life, achieve their goals and to respond to issues impacting their lives.
• Youth engagement – to provide opportunities for young people to be involved in decisions that affect them across all levels of government and the community.
• Positive promotion of young people – to value young people for who they are and recognise the positive contributions they are making in the community.
• Advocating on behalf of the needs of young people – to raise awareness of the needs of young people. This includes ensuring the needs of young people are fully understood and considered in decision making.

As Koorlangka Bidi is focused on universal youth services, the actions are open to all young people, including youth at risk and other vulnerable or marginalised cohorts of young people. There is something in Koorlangka Bidi for every young person.

There are six focus areas that were directly informed by the voices and experiences of young people:

• Amplifying young voices – young people have a voice that is heard, shaping their world, while feeling valued, recognised, and celebrated for their invaluable contributions.
• Climate action – move towards achieving net zero emissions, support climate adaptation and protect WA's unique environment for present and future generations. Equip young people with the knowledge, resources, and infrastructure needed to lead climate action, drive sustainable environmental practices and adapt to and mitigate climate change.
• Achieving goals – young people will gain a better understanding of post-school pathways and crucial life skills to achieve their goals and/or pursue purpose-driven careers.
• Cost of living – young people have access to supports that assist them to navigate the cost-of-living pressures, and access to safe and affordable transport to get to the places they need to.
• Supporting wellbeing –young people have access to resources, education, and programs supporting mental wellbeing, healthy lifestyles, and connections with family, friends, and community.
• Embracing diversity and inclusion – young people are actively engaged in community life, included, valued and celebrated for their diversity; fostering a strong sense of belonging and connection.

Importantly, Koorlangka Bidi notes that these issues are largely interrelated and should not be considered in isolation from each other.

Collaboration:

We know that the needs of young people cannot be met by any single State Government agency in isolation.  We also recognise the power of partnerships and the important role of youth service providers, local government, the Federal Government, business, and young people themselves.

That is why Koorlangka Bidi had a collaborative approach. We worked with State Government agencies to form an Interagency Working Group that was guided through the development of actions based on insights from young people. This helped to reduce the duplication of efforts across different agencies and create a coordinated and cohesive effort across Government.

We also worked with, and shared consultation findings with, local government agencies, the Federal Government, and other stakeholders such as the Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia, the Western Australian Local Government Association, Western Australian Council of Social Service, and Carers WA to further amplify the voices of young people and create improved outcomes for them.

Ongoing engagement with young people:

At every stage of developing Koorlangka Bidi the engagement of young people has been a priority, including:

• The design of consultation of workshops to increase accessibility for young people, such as partnering with trusted organisations and meeting young people where they are comfortable such as at a local hangout sport with a youth worker.
• The integration of contributions from young people such as artwork and quotes in the final publication.
• The “Pathways to Tomorrow” Youth Action Plan launch event was tailored to young people providing them with an opportunity to engage with different government agencies. It also featured young people, such as keynote speaker, Kate Kirwin.

The State Government invited young people and organisations to have their say and inform the development of a new Youth Action Plan.

From August 2023 to March 2024 the Youth portfolio engaged with a diverse cohort of 2,271 young people, from across WA, from Fitzroy Crossing to Albany.

The consultations engaged young people with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences including Aboriginal young people, LGBTQIA+ young people, young people living with disability, culturally and linguistically diverse young people, young carers and young people who live in regional, rural and remote areas of Western Australia.

Throughout the consultation process young people had their say through:

• 703 survey submissions;
• 29 written submissions;
• 47 ‘Drop us a comment’ submission;
• Over 50 ‘Building Tomorrow: Have Your Say’ workshops reaching every region in WA and a sell out Ignite & Innovate Networking event attended by 1,408 young people; and
• 113 young people engaged in the UN Youth Voice Public Speaking Competition

The “Building Tomorrow: Have Your Say” workshops took place in every region in Western Australia. The workshops were facilitated by young people allowing for a peer-based model that was accessible and engaging.

In the workshops, participants were invited to pitch a solution to an issue that they are passionate about. The solutions pitched by young people provided Government with many practical ideas for actions that have been incorporated into Koorlangka Bidi.

The workshops also bought tangible benefits to young people by supporting participants to learn a new skill, such as public speaking, networking or how to design an effective LinkedIn profile. 96 per cent of participants said that they had learnt something new during a workshop.

Communities partnered with trusted organisations and met young people where they are comfortable, such as at a local hangout sport with a local youth worker, to allow them to feel safe as they shared their views.

The questions were designed to identify the topics that were most important to young people as well as allowing them to pitch solutions.  This provided the State Government with an understanding of the issues pertinent to young people and practical ideas from young people that have been incorporated into Koorlangka Bidi.

For a majority of questions, young people were able to provide answers in their own words (rather than, for example, selecting from multiple choice) to ensure that we were able to hear from young people in their own words, and listen to exactly what they wanted to share with us.

MYAC is a consultative advisory body of young Western Australians that provides advice to the Minister for Youth on a range of topics relevant to young people in the Western Australia. The composition of MYAC reflects Western Australia’s diverse population and members represent their peers based on their own experiences and unique perspectives as a young people.

MYAC made many important contributions across the entire process of developing Koorlangka Bidi, including:

• Co-designing and delivering the consultations. They helped to develop and test multiple engagement types and opportunities, ensuring that the consultations were accessible and engaging.
• Providing feedback on the draft Koorlangka Bidi.
• Presenting consultation findings to state government agencies so that the views of WA’s young people were shared by young people themselves. The MYAC members answered questions from the representatives, allowing those developing the specific actions included in Koorlangka Bidi to hear directly from young people.

The State Government also opened submissions to:

• General public, in particular young people aged 10 to 25 years living in Western Australia
• Youth sector organisations, including peak bodies
• Education institutions
• Non-government community service providers
• Local governments, including Youth Advisory Councils

In recognising that the needs of young people cannot be met by any single agency in isolation, the Department of Communities coordinated an Interagency Working Group which was comprised of key State Government agencies.

The Interagency Working Group considered the consultation findings and developed actions informed by the views of young people.

This approach also helps to reduce the duplication of efforts across different agencies and to create a coordinated and cohesive effort across Government.

Communities also worked with and shared consultation findings with local government agencies, the Federal Government, and other stakeholders such as the Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia, the Western Australian Local Government Association, Western Australian Council of Social Service, and Carers WA to further amplify the voices of young people and create improved outcomes for them.

The impact of Koorlangka Bidi will be monitored through yearly reports, which will provide an overview of how the actions are implemented.

The Youth portfolio has worked closely with State Government agencies to ensure that all the actions are measurable. Outcomes have been developed for each action in the Youth Action Plan to support monitoring progress.

After the term of Koorlangka Bidi concludes, a closing report will be prepared to evaluate the impact of Koorlangka Bidi in improving outcomes for young people aged 10 to 25 years old in Western Australia.

Guiding the actions in the ‘Embracing diversity and inclusion’ focus area is a vision that, “Young people are actively engaged in community life, included, valued and celebrated for their diversity; fostering a strong sense of belonging and connection.” The actions under this that support neurodivergent young people are:

• 6.2 – Strengthening accessibility and inclusion for students with disability: The School Education Act 1999 will be reviewed to identify opportunities to strengthen access and inclusion for students with disability. New Complex Behaviour Support Coordinators will help to address the needs of students with complex behaviours. This action will be led by the Department of Education.
• 6.10 – Supporting inclusion in community programs: The Nearer to Nature programs will be reviewed to promote accessibility for neurodiverse young people. This action will be led by Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

The age range for young people in the Youth Portfolio and Koorlangka Bidi is 10 to 25 years old. The focus areas of Koorlangka Bidi have been identified as pertinent to young people across this age range. However, some actions are tailored to meet the needs of a specific age. For example, a young person starting high school has different needs from a young person that is looking for their first job. Overall, Koorlangka Bidi recognises and engages with young people from 10 to 25 years old, addressing both the shared and unique challenges that they face.

Communities has developed one-page Youth Action Plan snapshots for each of the six focus areas. Each snapshot includes a high-level summary of the outcome, insights from consultations, what government is already doing and some of the actions that will be implemented.

As Koorlangka Bidi is a whole-of-Government initiative, actions will be implemented across many different State Government agencies. Therefore, there will not be a ‘line item’ for Koorlangka Bidi in the 2025/26 State Budget. Instead, each action will be funded by the State Government agency that is responsible for delivering that action and be accounted.

Yes. Communities is committed to continuing to engage young people in the implementation and evaluation of Koorlangka Bidi. This will include opportunities for young people to provide feedback on yearly reports published throughout the life of Koorlangka Bidi and involvement of MYAC in the monitoring and evaluation process.

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