CELEBRATING THE FIRST EVER VICTORIAN YOUTH WEEK IN YUROKE

Young people from Hume will be celebrated and recognised during the inaugural Victorian Youth Week in April, with more than 100 activities running across the state.

Locally, Youth Projects Ltd have received an Andrews Labor Government grant to run a film festival for local young people during the 2018 Victorian Youth Week, which will run from 13 to 22 April.

The innovative project will encourage to people in the local community to use their phones to make a short film based on the concept of “who we are”. The films will subsequently be screened at a lunch during Victorian Youth Week.

This will be the first time Victorian Youth Week is run, filling the gap after the Turnbull Government scrapped funding for National Youth Week and forcing other states and territories to go it alone.

The successful Victorian Youth Week grant recipients will organise activities that engage young people and provide them with opportunities to express their ideas and be heard in their community, such as art exhibitions, musical performances, cultural celebrations and forums.

The Andrews Labor Government is providing more than $200,000 to local community organisations, schools and councils to run activities for young people in metropolitan and regional areas during Victorian Youth Week 2018.

It includes over 50 activities in metropolitan Melbourne and nearly 60 grants in regional Victoria.

Activities are aimed at those aged 12 to 25 and will be held in safe environments that are alcohol, drug and smoke free.

The Labor Government’s Youth Policy: Building Stronger Youth Engagement in Victoria sets out a plan to increase engagement with young people and embeds the voice of young people in building an even better Victoria.

For more information about 2018 Victorian Youth Week, visit youthcentral.vic.gov.au/vyw.