Engagement
Engaging with children and young people as active citizens and facilitating their participation in decision that affect them benefits everyone.
the occ is committed to consulting with children and young people to incorporate their thoughts and ideas into policy and reform.
The OCC promotes the interests of children and young people by hearing directly from them to generate a better understanding of things impacting positively or negatively on their safety and wellbeing.
Hearing your voices
We are continually travelling across the Territory, listening to children and young people about what is important for them to grow up healthy and well in the Northern Territory. Top values include:
- Family and friends
- Education
- Healthy and safe environments
- Strong communities
- Technology
- Diversity.
Some areas which were not working so well for children and young people in the Northern Territory include:
- Limited local education opportunities post high school
- Transition between primary school and high school
- Lack of child friendly spaces (rural areas)
- Lack of support services after leaving/finishing school
- Impact of climate change
- Facing increased peer pressures and stress in teenage years
- Bullying.
Children and young people told us that they want the Northern Territory Government and service providers who work with children to:
- Treat everyone as equals
- Involve them in decision making
- Allow for more diversity; including young people in parliament
- Invest in their future; such as mental health support, renewable energy and accessible education.
The key issues and ideas identified by the children and young people in the consultations conducted through the OCC align with contemporary research on similar topics. We are pleased there have been a number of reports across the Northern Territory that showcase the voices of children and young people, including:
- Northern Territory Youth Strategy 2023-2033 (Territory Families, Housing and Communities, NT)
- Story of our Children and Young People (Menzies School of Health Research)
- Hearing children’s voices in the Katherine Region (The Smith Family)
- After the National Framework: Building the National Child and Family Wellbeing Plan Beyond 2020 - Consultation with the Northern Territory Youth Roundtable (Office for Youth NT)
- Connected Beginnings Tennant Creek: 1000 voices project (Department of Education and Training)
- Community Profile – About the children and families of Alice Springs 2019 (Child Friendly Alice)