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All children and young people have the right to speak up, be heard and be involved in the decisions that affect them. It also just makes sense to hear what children and young people have to say and to partner with them on finding solutions that will work for them.
We recognise that children and young people:
- are experts in their own lives
- have the right to be involved in the decisions that affect them
- have experiences, expertise and solutions that adults can learn from.
Our approach to youth engagement
Our work is informed by:
- children and young people
- international human rights obligations
- the Child Safe Standards
- an understanding of the impact of trauma
- an understanding of the importance of creating spaces that are welcoming, safe and friendly.
Our engagement principles are:
- Principle 1: Culture is key
- Principle 2: We leave our ego at the door
- Principle 3: We ensure informed consent and confidentiality
- Principle 4: We do no harm
- Principle 5: We listen
- Principle 6: We understand the ‘why’ and the ‘who’
- Principle 7: We are genuine
- Principle 8: We partner where possible
- Principle 9: We practise open and regular communication
- Principle 10: We adapt, innovate and evolve Our Child and Youth Engagement Framework.
- Principle 11: We are inclusive and culturally safe
- Principle 12: We recognise, renumerate and celebrate
You can read more about these engagement principles in our Child and Youth Engagement Framework.
Child and Youth Engagement Framework
Our Child and Youth Engagement Framework (the Framework) explains how and why we engage with children and young people.
We created this Framework for our staff at the Commission for Children and Young People, but we’re sharing it more broadly to help others engage with children and young people in meaningful ways.
Download the Child and Youth Engagement Framework (PDF, 2.8mb)
The Framework includes:
- our principles for engaging with children and young people
- an engagement toolkit to help us choose the best engagement strategy based on the projects we are working on
- tools and resources to help us do this work.
Who can use the Child and Youth Engagement Framework?
We created this Framework for our staff, but anyone can use the tools in the document. We’re sharing this Framework to give you some helpful ideas and resources for engaging with children and young people.
We encourage you to adapt these resources or create your own to suit your work.
How we developed our Framework
We developed this Framework with alongside the Youth Council. It has been a process of doing, learning, and documenting what works and what doesn’t. We also draw on research, international child rights and many excellent resources from around Australia and the world.
Engagement is a journey, one that we are taking alongside children and young people with lived experience of the systems we are working together to improve.