Youth advisory group

Activate - Youth Advisory Group

The Activate Youth Advisory Group aims to keep the young people of Aotearoa informed and the public alerted to the voice of youth today.

We are Activate, a youth advisory group for the Ministry of Youth Development. We provide a youth perceptive on policy issues and help raise awareness on upcoming policies that affect young people and facilitate youth input which can help to shape and contribute towards our society in a positive and effective manner.

We are a Wellington based group and have been going since 2005. We come from different cultures including Māori, Pakeha, Asian and Pasifika. We are all volunteers!

Membership
All members of the group went through a selection process. One of the things we did was list the youth perspective/s and views we would bring to Activate (for example being a young parent, being a New Zealander or relating it to our cultural background) and why these views are important to have in Activate.

Our current members are:

• Tai Ahu
• Sara-Michele Bishop
• Oliver Ibbetson
• Sanele Chadwick
• Alexis Luo
• Kurt Sharpe
• Daniel Friar
• Bea Joblin

Submissions
We have been using online and face-to-face questionnaires to gather information to support oral submissions on bills that impact on young people.

We have presented oral submissions to several Select Committees and public meetings on the:

• Review of the Sale and Supply of Liquor Law Commission public meeting on 9 August 2009.
• Vehicle Confiscation and Seizure Bill to the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee on 30 July 2009.
• Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Bill to the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee on 30 July 2009.
• Young Offenders (Serious Crimes) Bill to the Law and Order Committee on 23 May 2007.
• Minimum Wage (Abolition of Age Discrimination) Amendment Bill to the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee on 22 February 2007.
• Opening Hearing on Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health on 4 December 2006.
• Employment Relations (Probationary Employment) Amendment Bill to the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee on 7 September 2006.
• ‘Smacking Bill’ or Crimes (Abolition of Force) Amendment Bill to the Justice and Electoral Committee on 31 August 2006.
• Sale of Liquor (Youth Alcohol Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill to the Law and Order Committee on 5 April 2006.

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