Millicent Spencer
Young people in Whittlesea are petitioning the state government to invest in additional youth spaces in the municipality.
Currently the City of Whittlesea has one youth space, Innovation Youth Centre in Bundoora, meaning young people in the area have limited access to dedicated services.
Youth advisory community member at Whittlesea Community Connections Sophia Ocon said there is a growing need in the community for additional youth spaces.
“We’re growing with a minimum of 45,000 young people taking up our population,” Ms Ocon said.
“We don’t have [enough spaces] on offer in comparison to other places such as Hume whose council has five.”
The group of young advocates at Whittlesea Community Connections will present a petition to the state government asking it to commit to working with young people to develop new youth led spaces.
“We have over 150 signatures but we want to get at least past a thousand,” Ms Ocon said.
“We are also starting a social media campaign soon, just to show them (state government) the journey as well as trying to get these hubs in the works.”
Ms Ocon said young people in the area would really benefit from having additional spaces offering access to numerous resources.
“A youth hub is basically a place for young people to go to in terms of a safe place, supervision and even potential referrals to other things,” she said.
“It’s something that’s around all year round that youth can access so easily and everything is just there for them.”
Ms Ocorn said having limited access to the current youth hub inspired her to be an advocate for young people in the municipality.
“[I hope to] become a voice for others that don’t even know that we had this opportunity,” she said.
