Youth Forum, Grafton NSW
On Tuesday 8 June 2004 the NSW Youth Advisory Council hosted a Youth Forum on ‘Feeling and Being Safe’ in Grafton. The forum was an opportunity for young people from Grafton and surrounding communities to come together to discuss issues of importance to them.
The objectives of the forum were:
- To ensure the Government is aware of issues of importance to young people, and provide greater opportunity for young people to input into public policy.
- To consult with young people generally on the implementation and review of Working Together, Working for Young People, the Government’s Youth Policy 2002-2006.
- To consult with young people on ‘Feeling and Being Safe’ (Strategy 5 of Working Together, Working for Young People, the Government’s Youth Policy 2002-2006).
More than 50 young people participated in the forum, breaking into smaller working groups to discuss Driver, Passenger and Pedestrian Safety, Rail Safety, Work Safety Issues for Young People, Personal Safety Issues for Young People, and Barriers to Safer Local Communities for Young People, as well as participating in a general session on local safety issues. Click on the links below for an interim report summarising the forum discussions.
Issues:
Have Your Say
Forum participants, young people living in the Far North Coast and other young people (ages 12-25) living in NSW are invited to submit their comments on these issues, either via the Safety Forum message board or by email.
Personal Safety
Young people in the Personal Safety workshops identified the main issues as:
- Limited youth-oriented activities and youth-friendly venues means there are very few opportunities for young people to attend appropriately supervised social activities.
- Socialising tends to focus around large, unsupervised parties, often in isolated locations when drug and alcohol misuse is common.
- Drug and alcohol misuse at these parties often leads to girls being targeted by groups of boys and sexually harassed or even assaulted.
- Lack of safe, affordable transport means that young people can’t get to supervised activities/can’t leave unsafe situations easily.
- Lack of education in schools about the effects of drug and alcohol abuse, the legal rights of young people and sex education.
- Lack of professional counsellors for young people to speak to.
- Privacy concerns when speaking to school counsellors, teachers etc., especially in small towns.
They suggested:
- More supervised under-18s activities, such as discos and sports activities to give young people more to do.
- Establishing and promoting youth centres and drop-in centres as safe places for young people to socialise.
- Affordable transport options for regional areas, such as street beat vans or ‘yaxi’ service (a very cheap taxi service especially for young people).
- School education about drugs and alcohol, sex and young people’s legal rights to be covered in more depth and at an earlier age (Year 7).
- More and better promotion of existing youth services and activities.
Comment on these issues and suggestions on the message board or via email.
Barriers to Safer Local Communities
Young people in the Safer Local Communities workshops identified the main issues as:
- Lack of youth-oriented activities/venues means that young people have nowhere safe to go to socialise. Young people end up hanging out on the streets; police move them on to isolated areas.
- Lack of affordable public transport means that it’s difficult to get to and from events. Hitchhiking is common.
- Young people are seen as a ‘problem’ by the local community and treated with suspicion.
They suggested:
- More supervised under-18s activities, such as discos and sports activities to give young people more to do.
- Establishing and promoting youth centres and drop-in centres as safe places for young people to socialise.
- Affordable transport options for regional areas, such as street beat vans or yaxi service (a very cheap taxi service especially for young people).
- More and better promotion of existing youth services and activities.
Comment on these issues and suggestions on the message board or via email.
Driver, Passenger and Pedestrian Safety
Young people in the Driver, Passenger and Pedestrian Safety workshops identified the main issues as:
- Speeding – young people speed for an adrenaline rush, to show off to friends or because they are in a hurry. Young people brag about the speeds they get up to and ‘safe speeding’.
- Drink driving is more of an issue for young people, especially in regional areas, because of the lack of affordable alternative transport.
- Lack of education about the effects of drinking on driving, such as the amount of time it takes for alcohol to leave your system.
- Lack of pedestrian education – pedestrians’ responsibilities for their own safety.
- The need for learner drivers to gain more experience in a wide range of driving conditions, rather than just a certain number of hours driving on the same roads/highways.
- There is an emphasis on age, not experience, which focuses on the minority of young people who cause problems on the road creating a stigma for all young drivers.
- Curfews for young drivers would not stop irresponsible drivers from driving at night and would make it difficult for young people to get safely to and from work at night.
- Young people are more likely to drive cheaper/older cars which increases the risk of accidents.
They suggested:
- Provide more places where people can go to legally speed (like Eastern Creek) so that they’re not endangering themselves and others on public roads.
- Stop manufacturing cars which are capable of reaching excessive speeds.
- Provide more education about the effects of drugs and alcohol on driving.
- Specify the range of driving conditions which learner drivers need to be experienced in.
- Consider compulsory advanced driving courses for novice drivers to become experienced in handling unexpected events.
- The road rules handbook should be more affordable and easier to read.
- Introduce passenger restrictions for novice drivers, increasing the number of passengers allowed as driving experience increases.
- Ensure the road worthiness of learner cars by introducing a compulsory service (like the annual pink slip) before lessons commence in the vehicle.
- There should be targeted advertising campaigns to highlight local issues, as well as the current statewide campaign.
- There needs to be more affordable public transport available so that young drivers are less likely to drive home under the effects of alcohol and other drugs.
Comment on these issues and suggestions on the message board or via email.
Rail Safety
Young people in the Rail Safety workshops identified the main issues as:
- Unsafe on trains, especially at night.
- Not enough passenger trains - overcrowding.
- Infrequency of services.
- People do not use pedestrian level crossings to cross train tracks because they are not conveniently located, or because they like taking risks.
They suggested:
- Education program on crossing train tracks safely; regional campaigns that focus on local issues.
- More and better signage on and around train tracks to remind pedestrians of dangers.
- Increased security on trains to improve passenger safety.
- Work with graffiti artists to find solutions to illegal graffiti activity, such as legal graffiti walls or making disused trains available to graffiti artists.
Comment on these issues and suggestions on the message board or via email.
Local Safety Issues: Grafton and the Far North Coast of NSW
Young people in the Local Safety Issues workshop identified the main issues as:
- Youth unemployment is very high.
- Inadequate acilities in schools/education.
- Young people need activities to participate in and places to go, e.g. sports, events at Ballina amphitheatre, youth centres.
- Lack of sexual assault services in Grafton
- Overcrowding in schools
- In Byron, Ballina and Grafton affordable housing for young people not living at home is an issue.
They suggested:
- Use the river, eg: for sports, fun activities, tourism
- Link community services to schools – increase awareness of what’s available.
- Need lights at the skate park. Lights in the public toilets.
- More and better affordable public transport.
- More education/information on legal rights through schools – young people receive different information from youth workers/police/security guards. Young people don’t know what they can and can’t do.
- Empowerment / support for young people to address the issues they are concerned about
- Young people need to know their legal rights around renting
- Young people should learn negotiation skills so they can negotiate with adults in authority.
- Every local council should have a youth Council at advocate for young people in the area.
Comment on these issues and suggestions on the message board or via email.
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