Geelong’s newest youth councillors, inducted just last week, aren’t wasting any time.
The group of 12 young people on the advisory 2024 Geelong Youth Council are getting involved in their civic responsibilities immediately, with the engagement process for a new youth hub in central Geelong beginning this week.
Junior Mayor Hteemoo Yohellaymusaw, elected last week by her peers to lead the Youth Council, said she was committed to advocating for “every young person in our diverse community”.
“I believe that by working together, the Youth Council can make a real impact.
“My goal as junior mayor is to engage and collaborate with fellow community members to address the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead and create a brighter and more inclusive future for everyone.”
Having hit the ground running, the junior mayor said she and her fellow youth councillors were excited to contribute to the Geelong Youth Hub project.
“We want to make sure that the voices of other young people are heard, and we’re really open to taking on feedback and ideas from across the community,” Hteemoo said.
The $400,000 project, funded by the state government’s Youth Hubs grant program and implemented by Geelong council, was conceived in collaboration with the 2022 Youth Council, which developed a feasibility study on the concept.
The City has allocated the Busport building for a two-year pilot starting in January 2025.
An information session on the youth hub project will be held Thursday evening (February 1) for interested community members , while co-design workshops will take place with young people aged 12 to 25 at the future hub site on Monday, February 19 and Wednesday, March 13.
Member for Geelong Christine Couzens said she was excited to see the project progressing.
“It is great to see the works of the Youth Hub come together, after years of ideas and visions that the members from the Youth Council have put in,” Ms Couzens said.
“I am very excited to see what this will bring for our youth in Geelong and wider community.”
Visit yoursay.geelongaustralia.com.au/youthhub to register or for more information about the information session or co-design workshops.
