Students Participate in National Youth Forum

The virtual National Youth Forum on Human Rights gave students an important opportunity to be part of a conversation with young Australians who have advocated for and worked in human rights.

Year 10 student Gabrielle Goes writes about the forum below.

On Tuesday this week, various members of the Year 10 Student Representative Council and Years 9 and 10 representatives from Seeds of Justice came together to participate in a National Youth Forum by the Whitlam Institute.

Many schools from all around the country joined the online forum, as well as various presenters who have achieved great accomplishments in their field of expertise. These included: Isabella Higgins, Hashwina Vimal, Thenu Herath, Madeleine Bridget, James Herath and Santa Maria past student, Lucy Stronach, who is the UN youth representative of Australia. The forum was about one question, ‘Should Australia have a Human Rights Act?’. We discussed whether this was important or not, and if this would affect the younger generation. Each presenter stated information surrounding this topic, including their own inspirational story of human rights. Australia is the only western country to not have a Human Rights Act. We were allowed to ask questions, which were later answered and discussed during the youth forum.

The forum was a fantastic opportunity to review how Australia sees human rights and acknowledges them. Not only did it give us an insight into human rights and how important they are, but it sparked a great discussion about them in our own group. We are very grateful for this experience and look forward to more discussions about this important topic. 

What A Term! So Many Opportunities – Jennifer Oaten

As I look back on the past nine weeks, I am so grateful for who we are as a community and what we have achieved. Through the dedication of our staff and the enthusiasm of our students, we have established new connections, immersed ourselves in opportunities and worked through challenges.

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