The WA government has launched its new three-year Youth Action Plan to guide the delivery of a wide range of initiatives to improve outcomes for young people in WA.
The Youth Action Plan is named Koorlangka Bidi which means ‘young people’s path’ in Noongar.
Youth Minister Hannah Beazley said the plan would improve the lives of young Western Australians.
“I’m incredibly proud to launch the State Government’s new Youth Action Plan which will help make Western Australia an even better place for young people.
“We know young people are eager to be involved in decision making to help shape WA’s future, and I thank everyone who has made their voice heard during the consultation process.” Minister Beazley said.
“The Youth Action Plan identifies key focus areas which reflect the issues that matter most to young people. The Cook Government remains committed to ensuring all young people feel valued,
included and empowered to live fulfilling lives.”
Commitment to Equal Opportunity Law Reforms
In the Youth Action Plan, the government acknowledges that passage of its long-promised reforms to Equal Opportunity Laws and bringing in protections for students in religious based schools will be an important element in improving the lives of young Western Australians.
The plan says the new legislation will “strengthen protections for LGBTQIA+ students in religious schools, extend anti-discrimination safeguards to ensure trans, gender-diverse and non-binary people are protected on the basis of their gender-related identity, and implement a substantive provision for measures intended to achieve equality for groups of people, such as young people.”
The plan also commits the Department of Education to supporting gender and sexuality diversity in schools.
Promise to move forward with Conversion Therapy bans
The government also renewed its commitment to bringing in laws to stop conversion therapy practices.
“LGBTQIA+ young people are particularly vulnerable to conversion practices which seek to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” the plan acknowledges.
“The WA Government is acting to protect young people by drafting new laws to criminalise such practices and introducing a civil response scheme to provide a response mechanism for allegations that do not meet the criminal threshold for harm.” the report reads.
While conversion therapy bans have long been promised the government recently admitted they were unlikely to introduce the legislation before the 2025 election. Brining in legislation in this area was announced with much fanfare by former Premier Mark McGowan in 2022. The new goals outlined in the youth report set out an agenda to be completed by 2027.
Better data systems promised in the area of health
The report additionally outlines a commitment to “update data systems to collect additional data for LGBTQIA+ people and include options for people to provide their gender, pronouns and preferred name” when interacting with the state’s health department.
The report was created after a wide consultation with young Western Australians
More than 2,200 young people aged between 10 to 25 from across WA helped shape the plan by sharing their insights and ideas on the issues that matter most to them.
The government said the themes heard most throughout the consultation process were used to develop the Youth Action Plan’s six focus areas: amplifying young voices, climate action, achieving goals, cost of living, supporting wellbeing, and embracing diversity and inclusion.
The Youth Action Plan will guide the delivery of a range of State Government initiatives which are aligned to the six focus areas.
These include empowering young people with tangible life skills, making it easier to get a driver’s licence or to pay for public transport, expanding respectful relationships education in schools, and much more.
The new Youth Action Plan demonstrates the Cook Government’s commitment to engaging with, and providing a voice to, young people on the issues that matter most to them.
The consultation process included hearing from young people with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences from across the State, including First Nations young people, LGBTQIA+ young people, young people living with disability, culturally and linguistically diverse young people, young carers and young people living regionally or in rural or remote areas.
The full plan can be downloaded from the Department of Communities.
