ENGAGING OUR YOUTH
ENGAGING OUR YOUTH
Hon. Barry House, MLC has served
as President of the Legislative Council of Western Australia since 2009. Previously, he served on a number of parliamentary committees and has held numerous roles both in Government and Opposition. Elected at a by-election in 1987, he is now the longest serving current Parliamentarian. He holds a B.Econ and prior to entering Parliament was a teacher. Hon. Barry House is a long-time supporter of the CPA and served as an Australian Regional Representative (2011-14) and has contributed to numerous CPA events, conferences, seminars and publications.
Introduction According to the theory of Responsible Government, parliaments are required to be ethical in decision-making and responsive to public opinion, while ensuring equality of opportunity by precluding discrimination and meeting appropriate service standards. As such, the Parliament and its practices should not only be structured to ensure that the liberties and scrutiny of democratic government are well embedded, but also provide opportunities for public participation and engagement. In Western Australia, there is a further implied constitutional requirement for the Parliament to engage with its community, stemming from its obligation to make laws for ‘peace, order and good government’.1 As a significant sub-group of the community, youth specific engagement forms a vitally important aspect of our Parliament’s public outreach. In 2011, a case study into Parliaments and Public Engagement by The Hansard Society employed a definition of community engagement in its broadest sense, which can be easily applied to the engagement of young people specifically: “It is the range of activities whose primary function is to raise awareness of the Parliament amongst the public and to facilitate a two-way flow
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of information, ideas and views, between them, requiring both listening and interaction on the part of both the institution and the citizen.”2 Recognising young people as a significant and unique sub-group of the community is essential in order to develop effective public programmes which not only contribute to the development of a politically aware youth culture, but increase the connection between the Parliament and its people. Such engagement has formed a particular focus for the Parliament of Western Australia, with a range of activities and opportunities developed to encourage young people to participate in, and gain a greater understanding of, the political and parliamentary process. Community Engagement Strategy A clear strategy for youth engagement is essential in order to promote parliamentary participation to young people in a cohesive and effective manner. The Parliament of Western Australia provides an excellent case study in this regard, as over the past four years the Parliament has significantly changed the way it engages with the community and with young people specifically. As a bicameral parliament in the Westminster tradition, there was an inherent risk of our community engagement work
being fragmented or duplicated, with activities delivered by different parts of the organisation without sufficient coordination or whole-ofParliament strategic objectives in mind. However, this risk has been minimised through the development of a clear vision for community engagement, which includes well-defined pathways and the capacity and resources necessary to execute that vision. Having recognised the need to better facilitate the relationship between the Parliament and the public, including young people specifically, this vision included the transfer of the Parliamentary Education Office from the Legislative Assembly to Parliamentary Services, under a whole of Parliament management committee. The Parliament also established a project position of Manager Community and Civic Engagement, tasked with undertaking consultation to inform the development of a Community Engagement Strategy, communication plan and other related documentation to increase public accessibility to information about the Parliament and people’s democratic rights, duties and opportunities for participation. Furthermore, the Parliamentary Education Office was also restructured in order to ensure a greater focus on improving Parliament’s branding and communication, including the terminology and language used.