Youth Parliament

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:34): My question is to the Minister for Youth. How is the government encouraging young South Australians to learn about our parliamentary system?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (14:35): This government is committed both to listening to young South Australians and to encouraging them to learn and be a part of our democracy, something that I know the member for Florey has very much supported.

I have spoken previously about this government's 2016 Youth Strategy for South Australia Connected to YOUth, which was launched on 19 February 2016, focusing on the issues of youth homelessness, training and employment, and engagement. One such way the government assists with youth engagement is through the Office for Youth sponsorship of the YMCA South Australian Youth Parliament program, held in this very chamber.

The program is run for young people aged 15 to 24 and helps to educate participants about the South Australian parliamentary system, including voting procedures, etiquette, public speaking, leadership and bill development. Mr Speaker, I know that your position is well sought after on the part of the participants; they like to have control of the chamber. The program also provides the opportunity for young people to express their views on the issues that matter to them.

As part of the state government's Charter for Stronger Regional Policy, a regional scholarship program was introduced in 2015 to support more young regional South Australians to participate in Youth Parliament. In 2015, the number of regional participants more than doubled compared with the number of regional participants in 2014, with 24 of the 75 participants completing the program from regional South Australia (32 per cent). This year aims to meet the target of at least 25 per cent of participants from regional South Australia.

I am pleased to advise that this year Youth Parliament week will be held between 10 and 15 July. I invite all of my parliamentary colleagues, from this house and the other place, to support our young parliamentarians. They look up to all of us, and there is some ambition within it. I had a brief conversation with some people and I was reminded that there are several people here today who participated in Youth Parliament—the member for Lee, the member for Morialta and the member for Bright.

Mr Duluk: I did as well.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Member for Davenport, I did do a straw poll. I think you must talk to your whip, your Leader of Government Business. As we can see, this is an important endeavour. Not everyone will go on to be a member of parliament, but what this does inspire people to do is to be actively involved in democracy. I will be particularly pleased to see the diversity, both in gender and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and of course I have touched on the fact that we have people from both metro and regional areas. This year, a total of 86 participants have already registered, including 20 regional participants. One such participant is Elysse Dimitradis, who is from Mundulla in the South-East; is that correct?

Members interjecting:

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Near Bordertown. She will be taking up the role of Youth Governor, a very senior position in the Youth Parliament. Elysse took part last year and passed a bill about rural education. She said that one of the best things about Youth Parliament was meeting new people and that the regional participants all stayed together in Adelaide. She also said that it was 'learning that I have a voice in my community, even though I am young.' These participants are currently undergoing training for Youth Parliament week. I encourage all members of this place to pop in and listen to the debate and meet some of these really fantastic, motivated, young South Australians.