New 'ACE' Youth Strategy for Hepburn Shire
Published on 30 June 2022
Advocating for young people, celebrating and elevating them is the purpose of Hepburn Shire Council’s new ACE Youth Strategy, which Council adopted at the Council Meeting this week.
More than 500 young people and adults were involved in the development of the strategy, which outlines key issues faced by young people, what Council heard during the consultation, the priority areas and annual action plans. Fortnightly meetings with young people in the co-design team were vital to the development of the strategy.
The 2022-2025 Youth Strategy has been named “ACE”, which is an abbreviation of Advocate, Celebrate and Elevate. These pillars provide Council with a practical guide to how to address the challenges which young people currently face.
- Advocate - young people to be connected to services, community and positive peer/adult role models and advocate for programs, education and employment opportunities.
- Celebrate – acknowledge, support and celebrate young people and the outstanding work they do in the community.
- Elevate - to be safe, to be healthy, to learn and earn.
“We are very pleased to adopt this important strategy, which really was developed by young people, for young people,” said Hepburn Shire Mayor, Cr Tim Drylie.
“The ACE Youth Strategy complements our Early Years and Middle Years Strategy ‘Starting Blocks’ that was adopted in May. Both strategies demonstrate our commitment to working with the community and other agencies towards the development of children in our Shire, from birth right through to adulthood,” said Cr Drylie.
The eight priority areas are mental health; climate action; gender equality, inclusion and diversity; youth health and wellbeing; social and community connection; personal growth and development; youth agency and empowerment; and safety and security.
“One of the first things that we’re delivering under this strategy is our winter school holidays program, which I encourage every local young person to get involved in,” he said.
The school holiday program includes free activities, such as ceramics and terrarium workshops in Clunes, Creswick and Daylesford, a bus trip to an Entomology Expo at Woodend, and a film screening as part of NAIDOC Week. Find out more and book at https://linktr.ee/octave_youth_events.