Youth Parliament 2025

Youth Parliament is an opportunity for young New Zealanders to learn first-hand about Aotearoa New Zealand’s democracy and to influence decision making.

Youth Parliament is a non-partisan process which was first held in 1994 to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of the lowering of the voting age to 18. The first Youth Parliament was a short event that involved young people coming to Parliament for an education day.

Due to the success of the first event, in 1995 Cabinet invited the then Minister of Youth Affairs to hold a Youth Parliament every Parliamentary term, to:

• replicate the Parliamentary process
• involve as many young people as possible (before and after the event)
• maximise the educational opportunities of the event
• enhance Parliamentary public relations
• make known the views expressed to appropriate policy agencies.

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Youth Parliament 2025 is a unique youth development opportunity for 143 young people from across Aotearoa New Zealand to experience the political process, learn about how government works and represent their communities as Youth members of Parliament (MPs) or participate as Youth Press Gallery members.

Organised by MYD, with support from the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives – Te Tari o te Manahautū o te Whare Māngai and other government agencies, Youth Parliament 2025 is providing young people aged 16-24 years with an opportunity to develop leadership skills, influence government decision-making, and have their voices heard.

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Since the four-month programme began at the end of April 2025, Youth Parliament 2025 participants took part in a series of comprehensive training sessions. Orientation day took place on Monday 30 June and involved an introductory briefing, a pōhiri, and tours of the Parliamentary Precinct and He Tohu (National Library of New Zealand Exhibition). This ensured all participants were briefed and prepared to participate fully in the Youth Parliament 2025 two-day event.

For the first time, all Youth MPs participated in 12 Parliamentary Working Groups (PWGs) focused on topics of interest, co-chaired by 24 Youth MPs. These allowed them to hear from topic experts, bring their views and those of other young New Zealanders to the table, and present their ideas to decision-makers. While Youth MPs were busy engaging with their selecting MP and undertaking community engagement with their peers, Youth Press Gallery members were reporting on the work done by their assigned Youth MPs.

Over the course of the two-day event, 80 Youth MPs also made speeches during the general debate, and 19 asked oral questions of Ministers. The Youth Press Gallery members continued to put their journalistic talents to good use by reporting on proceedings, while learning about the workings of Government from the perspective of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. Back to top

To share their findings and recommendations with decision-makers, Parliamentary Working Groups (PWGs) produced reports which presented their findings and recommendations. Reports for each PWG topic can be accessed at the links below.

Note: while a report template was provided to support, PWG members were able to present their findings and recommendations through the approach of their choosing.

1. Biodiversity Credits (PDF 84 KB)
2. Supporting unpaid and informal carers in Aotearoa New Zealand (PDF 1 MB)
3. Unlocking potential: Education, training, and employment for disabled young people (PDF 255 KB)
4. Preventing and minimising harm from gambling for youth (PDF 974 KB)
5. The workforce and gene technologies in Aotearoa New Zealand (PDF 942 KB)
6. Enabling more housing to ease pressure on the market (PDF 953 KB)
7. Promoting online safety and wellbeing (PDF 1.7 MB)
8. Implementing a Pacific Education Action Plan (PDF 1.1 MB)
9. Retirement income policy for the next 25 years (PDF 984 KB)
10. Using sport and physical activity to improve the lives of young people (PDF 922 KB)
11. Addressing barriers to the widespread adoption of te reo Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand (PDF 1.4 MB)

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Click on each young person's name to access their Participant Profile and learn a little more about these amazing young people!

Youth MPs

Youth Press Gallery

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General Criteria

Young people needed to be able to manage the time commitment related to participating in Youth Parliament 2025. The programme ran from Monday 28 April to Friday 29 August 2025, with the two-day event taking place on Tuesday 01 and Wednesday 02 July in the Parliamentary precinct in Wellington. Orientation took place on Monday 30 June 2025. The four-month programme allowed young people from around Aotearoa New Zealand to actively work and be heard on topics and issues they are passionate about. 

Young people currently living in Aotearoa New Zealand and aged 16 to 18 years (as at Friday 28 February 2025) were eligible to apply to become a Youth MP, while Youth Press Gallery members must be aged between 16 and 24 years (as at Friday 28 February 2025). All participants received training, pastoral support, and guidance along the way, and were expected to comply with Youth Parliament 2025 protocols and behavioural expectations (including signing a Code of Conduct).

Specific Criteria for Youth MPs

Each MP ran their own application process to select a Youth MP and set specific criteria related to that. The How to Apply section below provided information on how to work out who your local MPs are and what their application process was.

Specific Criteria for Youth Press Gallery Members

Young people selected must:

• be either a current student studying journalism, media studies, or communications, completing an internship or working at a media outlet, or a secondary school student with a strong and active interest in media
• have an interest in New Zealand Parliament processes
• have a strong interest in journalism as a career option
• be committed to contributing their best, including preparing and seeking to publish articles on Youth Parliament 2025 and Youth MPs throughout the full tenure.

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Following the Youth Parliament 2025 event, MYD received a number of Official Information Act requests. Due to the high public interest in the programme, and the large number of documents in scope of the requests, MYD has prepared a proactive release of information which covers the non-partisan approach MYD took to deliver the programme, guidance Youth MPs received regarding their general debate speeches or Oral Questions, and information regarding live-streaming activities in the House. An overview of documents included can be found here.

• Category 1: All reports to the Minister for Youth focused on the delivery of Youth Parliament 2025 (PDF 14 MB)
• Category 2: Youth MP and MP guidance packs (PDF 6.4 MB)
• Category 3: Application forms, and relevant training Youth MPs undertook to prepare them for the programme (PDF 3.6 MB)
• Category 4: Guidance Youth MPs received about the content of two-day in-person event, including about general debate speeches and asking an Oral Question (PDF 8.9 MB)
• Category 5: Information regarding live-streaming of the activities in the House (PDF 1.5 MB)

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All applications opened on Monday 03 February 2025 and closed at 12.00 noon on Friday 28 February 2025.

Youth MP Application process

Each MP ran their own application process to select a Youth MP. Young people who wanted to represent their community as a Youth MP needed to first work out who their local MPs are and what their application process is. Young people could find out more information about electorate and list MPs on the New Zealand Parliament Website external and how to contact them, or they could check out their social media to see if they had announced their application process. 

Youth Press Gallery Application Form

A panel selected up to 20 young people to participate as Youth Press Gallery members. To apply to be a member of the Youth Press Gallery, young people needed to complete the application form. The link to the online application could be found on SmartyGrants. The application form asked young people to provide a current Curriculum Vitae (CV), two examples of their work, an opinion piece on one of two topics provided, and two references. 

Access to information was available in the following formats:

New Zealand Sign Language & Audio

• NZSL videos and audio files related to general Youth Parliament 2025 Application Information and the Youth Press Gallery Application Form were available to all applicants.

Large Print

• Youth Parliament Application Information (PDF 156 KB)
• Youth Parliament Application Information (DOCX 122 KB)
• Youth Press Gallery Application Form (PDF 122 KB)
• Youth Press Gallery Application Form (DOCX 121 KB)

Te Reo Māori

• Youth Parliament Information and Youth Press Gallery Application Form (PDF 961 KB)

Easy Read

• Youth Parliament Information Sheet (PDF 1.3 MB)