I’m representing young Australians at the United Nations General Assembly in New York

I’m Satara, and I am deeply honoured to serve as Australia’s Youth Representative to the United Nations for 2025.

As a young Australian woman of colour, my story is shaped by the intersection of citizenship, family, race, and religion. Growing up as a young carer for my sister, who lives with a double disability, taught me resilience and fuelled my passion for advocating on behalf of marginalised voices.

Over the past few months, I’ve had the real privilege of travelling across Australia’s vast expanse - from Tasmania to the Tiwi Islands, engaging with young people from diverse backgrounds. From bustling urban centres to remote communities, schools to detention facilities, I’ve been listening to their stories, perspectives, and solutions.

These insights will then form the backbone of my address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where I will proudly represent the voices of young Australians on a global stage.

Australia is a nation with a diverse fabric of identities, histories and faces. It is my wish that my term as the 2025 Youth Representative reflects the beautiful and multifaceted tapestry of personalities that makes up this country.

The listening tour usually includes a core theme or questions that forms the basis for the tour’s consultations and findings.

In 2025 the focus of the tour is this: in the last few years, young Australians from all backgrounds have led the charge, boldly exposing the deep injustices and inequalities embedded in our systems, minds, and policies. How do we meaningfully and effectively respond to this intersectional, diverse chorus of voices?

I promise to fiercely advocate for the quietest voices in our community: those who communicate differently, those who feel they are invisible to their leaders, and those who do not see themselves represented in the corridors of power. I commit to collecting and facilitating intersectional, diverse and accessible conversations - with the end goal of shedding more light on inequalities facing youth in Australia, as well as how young people, the very individuals living these realities, propose to solve them.

Thank you for trusting me with your voices, thoughts, and stories. It’s a privilege to take your ideas to the highest levels of government and to world leaders at the United Nations. Your voices deserve to echo across oceans, and I’m committed to ensuring they do.

Let’s make 2025 a year of connection, empowerment, and change! You can keep in touch with me through instagram @ausyouthrep or email - youthrep@unyouth.org.au! 

Satara Uthayakumaran
Australia’s 2025 Youth Representative to the United Nations