Chairperson’s Report

The past year has been incredibly challenging for young people. While the national picture has varied considerably at times, the year is marked once again by the COVID-19 pandemic. Young people have endured the pandemic with its enormous and unprecedented disruptions to their lives: online study, unemployment and uncertainty about their future. At the same time, young people have supported their families and the entire community as essential workers, volunteers, innovators and advocates. We have been grateful for the leadership and support of all young people across the country and their incredible work that is needed now more than ever.

AYAC achieved a significant milestone this year in securing funding. This reaffirmed our purpose as the national voice for young people and allowed us to build our coalition and our new team. It also provided the platform  for developing an organisational vision through our Strategic Plan 2025. A big thanks to Luke and Reece for leading our work, for delivering on an ambitious work program and for building a sustainable foundation for the next stage of our organisation. We also thank the AYAC Board Directors for their commitment and guidance: Sarah Ramantanis (Vice-Chairperson), Ross Wortham (Treasurer), Isabelle Franklin, James McDougall, Dr Justin Barker, Katherine Ellis and Sonia Arakkal. Thank you to our funders and supporters for believing in the critical role AYAC plays in facilitating nationally coordinated and informed policies for young people.

And a particular thanks to our members for their support, partnership and tireless work advocating for young people over the last year. We’re looking forward to working together more closely and hopefully more often in-person next year.

We are excited for the future of AYAC and our next steps as the national voice and advocate for all young people.

Caitlin Figueiredo and Nadine Liddy, AYAC Chairpersons

Executive Officer’s Report

In another difficult year we focused on ensuring young people had a direct voice to decision-makers. We launched new programs, increased our capacity to advocate and published new research. 

In 2020/21 we established the AYAC Young Leaders and Advocates Fellowship to empower young people to lead and influence national policy and increase the representation of young people in public debate. We received an overwhelming number of applications and the first cohort of the AYAC Fellowship includes young people from right across the country. The incredible group of leaders have designed policy, represented young people and worked directly with decision-makers. We brought together our coalition and worked with the National Youth Advocacy Network to ensure that all young people had the opportunity to contribute and lead policy. We also launched the Australian Youth Development Index and continued our work to ensure young people are leading innovation and research.

I am incredibly grateful to have the support of our members and community who have been ongoing advocates for our team and movement. I would also like to thank the AYAC Board for their support and Reece for his leadership of our projects and his incredible work to ensure that young people have a seat at the table.

We also took the opportunity this year to build our organisation and ensure our sustainability now and into the future. We are looking forward to the next year as we continue this work and advocate for a better future for all young people.

Luke Rycken, AYAC Executive Officer

Financial Reports

You can review and download our Financial Report and Independent Audit Report for 2020/21.

Acknowledgment

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We work on the lands of the Kulin nation and pay our respect to their Elders past and present. We acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.