About Youth Parliament
The Western Australian YMCA Youth Parliament will educate, empower and unite young people to bring about positive social change
The Youth Parliament (YP) Program has been held in Western Australia for over 20 years, run by the YMCA Perth. Every state and territory in Australia holds a Youth Parliament annually thanks to the support of YMCAs in all capital cities across the nation. Since the inception of the program approximately 1000 young people have had the opportunity to participate. In Western Australia the program is usually conducted between April and July.
Youth Parliament is an exciting and energising program that provides young people with the opportunity to engage in civics and citizenship education in a practical way like no other. Young people who are involved in the program take on the role of their local Member of Parliament and engage in various education and preparation programs before embarking in living the life of an MP for a week.
The Western Australian Youth Parliament aims to act as:
- A State-level youth forum
- A leadership and personal development program for young people
- A politics, law, civics and citizenship education program
- A strong reference group to the Western Australian Government
In 2010 the Curriculum Council of Western Australia recognised Youth Parliament as an Endorsed Program. This means that participation in YP can contribute to secondary students' attainment of their WA Certificate of Education (WACE). On successful completion of the WA YP program, registered students will have 5 points recorded on their educational transcript. This is equivalent to passing one unit of secondary study (i.e. successfully studying one subject for one semester, such as 2A MAT).
The week-long camp involves a range of activities from fun, personal development, parliamentary activities and official functions. Three days are spent in Parliament debating legislation, and the remainder of the camp is spent participating in training, recreation activities, functions with significant government figures and parliamentary 'caucuses'.