Year 11 student Srishti Lavania represented the federal electorate of Braddon at Australia’s inaugural National Youth Parliament, taking her place alongside young people from every federal electorate across the country.
Held in Canberra from 16–20 August, the five-day residential program brought together 150 secondary students, one from each of Australia’s federal electorates, for an immersive experience of parliamentary democracy.
Youth Members participated in simulated parliamentary proceedings, explored the development and debate of legislation, met parliamentarians and parliamentary officials, attended Question Time and connected with other young people interested in advocacy and civic participation.
For Srishti, the experience was an opportunity not only to understand Parliament, but to use her own voice.
“The National Youth Parliament is organised to have one representative, a Youth Member, from each of the federal electorates in Australia,” Srishti said.
“You get to speak to the actual people taking action on policy in the country, and you get to voice your own opinions. It’s a really good opportunity for youth advocacy and to bring youth issues to the front.”
Five days immersed in the experience
The residential nature of the program meant the experience continued well beyond the formal sessions at Parliament House.
Srishti described the five days in Canberra as intense, with a packed itinerary and days often stretching to 12 or 14 hours.
“Each day we had a whole itinerary set out. It was extremely jam-packed, but I think that’s part of what made it really fun,” she said.
“It was so dynamic and things kept going at such a fast pace that you had to be really attentive to catch up with everything.”
Living alongside other Youth Members also gave Srishti an opportunity to get to know young people from communities across Australia. After the day’s formal program concluded, conversations continued back at the accommodation.
“Later at night, you’d have time to connect with your peers, who were also really like-minded people, and you could really hear the opinions of everyone from different electorates.”
Sharing cabins helped turn those conversations into friendships that Srishti believes will continue well beyond the five-day program.
“I made some really lifelong friends,” she said.
“I think part of friendship is that it can be fun, but then we can also talk about serious things. We could talk about advocacy and these really serious issues, which you can’t always get in an environment that isn’t specifically catered to that.”
The combination of long days, shared experiences and conversations with young people bringing perspectives from across the country became an important part of the experience.
Speaking up for women’s health
One of the most significant moments of the National Youth Parliament came when Youth Members delivered adjournment speeches on issues important to themselves and the communities they represented.
Srishti chose to speak about women’s reproductive health, including access to care for endometriosis and the need for greater research funding.
“At the end of Youth Parliament, you have an adjournment speech where you bring an issue that’s important to your district and to you,” she said.
“I spoke on women’s health, how hard it is for women to access care for endometriosis, and the lack of funding given to research into women’s reproductive health.”
It was a fitting culmination to a week built around the idea that young people should have opportunities not simply to learn about democracy, but to participate in it.
“Always go for it”
Srishti already had an interest in debating and advocacy before applying. It was another young person in her debating network who first encouraged her to apply for National Youth Parliament.
She had participated in debating at state and national level and had also volunteered with Cancer Council.
Despite that experience, Srishti said she was surprised to learn she had been selected to represent Braddon.
Her advice to other young people is simple.
“Always go for it and always apply,” she said.
“No matter whether you think you’re qualified enough or not, I encourage everyone to just give it a fair go because you never know who is going to end up getting selected.”
“I was really surprised when I found out I was selected because there were some really good candidates applying for the same area. I’m really grateful that I ended up getting that opportunity.”
“Never doubt yourself. Go for it. It’s a great opportunity to have.”
The inaugural National Youth Parliament was led by the Department of the House of Representatives and delivered in partnership with Y Australia. The program brought together 150 young Australians for five days of parliamentary debate, policy discussion and civic engagement, providing participants with firsthand experience of Australia’s democratic processes.
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