from YAPRap April 2006
Editor's note: References to "the Government" in this article refer to the Australian (Federal) Government.
by Hugh Evans
Youth Week - a seven-day window during which the Government aims to provide young people from 12 to 25 with an opportunity to express their ideas and views, raise issues of importance to them, act on issues that affect their lives and create and enjoy entertainment.
But it appears that this window of opportunity may slip right by this year, as Youth Week has turned into an over-funded marketing tool for the Government, a textbook public relations exercise designed to disguise the fact that the Government has all but extinguished young people from its radar.
Rather than dealing with the challenges facing young people, Youth Week merely serves to market a good impression of Australian youth -- at a high price.
Last year, Youth Week was run by a marketing firm called Horizon Communication Group. Its $360,690 marketing campaign included distributing Youth Week stickers and key rings with the slogan "Make it Yours".
This year Youth Week is being run by a marketing firm called Lifelounge and the slogan is "Just Add You".
The Government is spending nearly 50 per cent of its total budget for Youth Week on marketing, leaving a meagre amount for the issues that young people confront.
How is the Government getting away with spending such an unacceptably large portion of its Youth Week budget on marketing?
As the director of the Oaktree Foundation, a youth-run aid and development organisation, I am always mindful of minimising our marketing budget so that we can ensure the money gets where it's meant to go -- to young people in the developing world. If the Oaktree Foundation, or any other not-for-profit organisation, spent 50 per cent of its budget on marketing we would be forced to close down because we wouldn't have enough money to fund our development projects.
The point is that the Government is missing the point. Do they actually want to celebrate the contribution by young people and raise awareness of the issues young people face? Or is this primarily about the Government telling us that they want to? After all, Lifelounge's mission is all about selling products to young people.
All this is not at all surprising because in recent years the youth portfolio has moved from a place of prominence to a place of token status. There used to be a minister for youth affairs, Larry Anthony, but when he was voted out in the 2004 election, the portfolio went too. While Anthony was around, he met young people and listened to their concerns and opinions. He left a void that remains unfilled.
Hope returned -- albeit fleetingly -- when youth was again represented in the somewhat diminished form of a parliamentary secretary, Sussan Ley. What soon followed was another reshuffle and youth affairs fell off the radar altogether. Sure, family and community services now have two ministers -- Mal Brough and John Cobb -- but this game of musical chairs has left young people with nowhere to sit.
What I see is a government that has systematically diminished the representation of young people and then wasted money on promoting something about which it demonstrably cares little. Young people aren't seen as a relevant voting bloc, and with the recent move to close electoral rolls the day elections are called, more young people will be unable to vote even if they reach the voting age but fail to register in time.
Am I being cynical?
I don't think so. I know we can do a whole lot better.
We could use Youth Week to consider the issues that young people face, and perhaps even tackle the hard question of why Australia has one of the highest rates of youth suicide in the developed world. Why is it that in Australia, suicide is responsible for more deaths of young people than car accidents and is now the eighth leading cause of death for young people, having increased by 35 per cent over the past 10 years?
Youth Week and its ridiculous marketing budget would be better spent addressing the issues facing young Australians rather than promoting the Government through a public relations exercise designed to disguise its forgotten youth agenda.
I urge the Government to pick up its game -- young Australians are the future of our country. They deserve more than stickers and key rings.
Notes
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Hugh Evans is director of youth-run aid and development organisation the Oaktree Foundation and 2004 Young Australian of the Year.
- Opinions expressed are the author's and not necessarily YAPA's.
