Students and politicians alike gathered at the Kyabram Fauna Park on Wednesday, April 17 for the Our State of the Future Youth Forum to discuss community issues.
Kyabram P-12 College Year 12 students attended the forum on behalf of their school and met with students from other schools to discuss issues in their community that they are passionate about.
Local politicians were present in the room, with the state leaders listening to groups of students, who voiced their opinions and concerns.
Kyabram P-12 College Chaplain Liz Spicer said the forum provided students “their own voice” to be heard in the community.
“It’s not very often that they get to speak to that amount (of people),” Ms Spicer said.
“I thought it was very educational for them... they understood who was who, and which politician belonged where, and who they could talk to about different issues.”
“There were a lot of politicians in the room, and in a small room where any of them could walk up to them and say what they thought about certain issues.”
Among the MPs present were State Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes and State Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh, who spoke to students about the importance of young voices in politics.
Kyabram P-12 College captain Angus Scoble was among the students who attended the forum.
“It was a very great experience to understand the different types of parliament and government,” Angus said.
“It was good to get our student and community voice heard,” he said.