At the end of November, the Y Northern Territory held our Annual General Meeting at the Y UpTop Palmerston Youth Space.
We had the privilege of hearing from six remarkable young people representing three of our youth and community services programs: Palmerston Youth Centre, the Back2School Program, and Youth Parliament.
Each person shared their personal stories, providing a glimpse into their lives and experiences.
Young Larrakia woman, Cheyenne proudly opened the AGM with a Welcome to Country.
Leesa Bryen, Youth & Community Services Executive Leader shared an overview of our work with young people and introduced the program leads (Jonathon McDonald, Tahlia Biggs and Ashlee Coleman) who shared a little about the programs they run, before handing it over to Keith, Connor, Jeanne, Addison, Ariane and Cheyenne.
Palmerston Youth Centre
Familiar faces at our Palmerston Youth Centre, Keith 15, and Connor 13, shared why they consider the PYC a safe place for them. Having been first introduced to the PYC by family made it easy to feel at home. They get to relax, hang out with friends, chat to the staff – and as any growing kid loves, of course the free food! One of their favourite experiences of this year was participating the Couch Surfing competition to increase awareness of homelessness in youth. They placed second this year in the race but are gunning for gold in 2025!
Youth Parliament
Addison Perris, 2023 and 2024 Youth Parliament participant, who this year was elected by her peers as Opposition Leader, felt grateful to step up and be trusted to lead the Opposition. Politics wasn’t something Addison found interesting until her experience at Youth Parliament. Now she’s working as an Electorate Officer and next year she’s heading to the (cold) political capital of Canberra to study Psychology with ANU.
2023 NT Youth Parliamentarian Jeanne Hussein recounted how the program was an opportunity for her and her team to highlight racism in the Northern Territory, and how it could be addressed by establishing an Anti-Racism Commission. Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jeanne shared how she and her family spent time in a refugee camp in Malawi before coming to Australia, and how that experience has inspired her to want to study immigration law so she can support others fleeing war to find a safe home. She’s got her sights set on studying in Queensland in 2025.
Back2School
Cheyenne shared that her short time in the Back2School program has supported her to feel confident in herself and is now one step closer to her career goal, sharing that she has been accepted into the Police Cadets. She knows that female Police Officers have lower representation and leadership opportunities, which is motivating her to become a Detective by the time she turns 25.
Ariane, who has been with the Back2School program for 18 months, is an avid learner and has shown dedication to her personal growth. Ariane has completed a total of 5 VET courses through the Y, Palmerston Youth Skills Centre and CDU. The team at UpTop have supported her to gain casual employment at one of our Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) centres in Palmerston and the OSHC Educators team have enjoyed having her in the centre. Next year she’ll undertake a Cert III in School Based Education through a school-based traineeship. In 2025, a new milestone for the Back2School program, Ariane will be the first to graduate her NTCET through the program.
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All of the Board Directors and Y Executive leaders thoroughly enjoyed hearing from the young people about their experiences at the Y.
Embedding youth voices across our organisation is crucial for ensuring we are led by young people in the Northern Territory.
Their insights and perspectives are central to making informed decisions that have real, lasting impact on the services we provide and the future we are working to create.
