We know that to secure everyone’s future, we need to first secure young people’s place on the Northern Beaches. After all, the young people of today will be the decision makers, innovators, and caretakers of our world tomorrow.

Everyone has a role in supporting young people to be part of community life.

With this in mind, we have developed the Youth Voice Action Plan 2028 - Shaping the Beaches' Future, created with young people, for young people.

Between 1 December 2022 and 14 March 2023 we consulted with you on the draft plan. We received 191 comments. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback. Overall there was a lot of support for the draft plan. Some changes were made to the document in response to suggestions provided in the feedback.

At the meeting on Tuesday 18 April 2023, Council adopted the Youth Voice Action Plan 2028 - Shaping the Beaches' Future, setting key directions for youth development on the Northern Beaches over the next five years.

View the Council minutes (Item 10.2, page 18) and Council Report (Item 10.2, page 32)

You can check out different versions of the adopted plan below.

We will support the implementation of the plan through continued collaboration with teams across Council, the youth services sector, and young people.

The information below was consulted on during the public exhibition of the draft action plan and the document has since been revised.

Youth Voice builds on what we heard from young people during development of Better Together (2020), Council’s social sustainability strategy.

A consultation paper was put together to summarise what young people told us. It identified eight (8) key focus areas:

Safety | Mental Health | Economic Security | Participation | Equity | Housing | Belonging |
Connection

In early 2022, young people were invited to share their experiences of these focus areas via photos, comments and videos on an ideas board. Click here to view the Ideas Board.

We also held a series of Café Conversation sessions for the broader community to come and chat to us about how we can better support young people to be part of community life.

Thank you to everyone who participated. Your feedback helped us develop the draft Action Plan and the Youth Voice Engagement and Insight Report that explores the experiences of young people on the Northern Beaches.