Youth Affairs Working Group

Terms of reference

The Youth Affairs Working Group will provide strategic advice on Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) priorities to the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA) and other relevant committees and working groups to ensure that Ministers’ considerations include the needs, aspirations and perspectives of young people.

The Working Group will:

• Collaborate on cross-sectoral matters including transitions and careers.
   
• Work collaboratively to support the Compact with Young Australians.
   
• Support the social inclusion agenda and in particular the reform agenda to halve homelessness by 2020.
   
• Provide opportunities for young people to influence decisions that affect them.
   
• Coordinate a joint approach and strategy for youth research, to reduce duplication of effort and provide evidence-based research to improve policy development and service delivery for young people.
   
• Identify emerging issues across jurisdictions for a better co-ordinated approach to improve the learning, development, health and wellbeing of Australia’s young people.
   
• Identify and develop mechanisms to support local level planning and development in order to achieve coordinated and integrated programs and services to support vulnerable young people.
   
• Develop a work plan articulating areas of common interest to jurisdictions and opportunities for national information sharing and collaboration.
   
• Develop inter-committee arrangements to consult on youth issues that impact on the work on MCEECDYA and the Ministerial Council for Tertiary Education and Employment (MCTEE).

Timeframe and reporting arrangements

The Youth Affairs Working Group is to be approved annually.

Membership

One member from each State, Territory and the Commonwealth. A representative from the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA).

The Working Group will co-opt representation with observer status from peak non-government organisations and key Commonwealth government agencies, as appropriate.

Chair

Contact details