The Convention On The Rights Of The Child: Hearing the Voices and Perspectives of Children and Young People

This is the 21st webinar in the series bringing together government officials, practitioners and academic experts to develop greater knowledge and understanding of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and the need and means for its implementation in Australia.

The right of children to participate and be heard is enshrined in the CRC. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has repeatedly stated – including in its recommendations to the Australian Government – the need for the meaningful participation of children in all aspects of Australian policy and practice that impact their rights.

The importance of climate change for the realisation of the rights of children and of future generations is a recurrent theme in the concerns of children in Australia and worldwide. This is recognised by the CRC Committee which is currently drafting a General Comment on the issue. But children have a wider range of concerns. These include the rights of Indigenous children, children with disabilities, and transgender children as well as the whole range of civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights encompassed in the CRC.

In this last webinar in the current series, and in partnership with UNICEF Australia, the voices of children and young people will be heard. We will hear their expectations, and their demands of the recently elected Federal Government, and from State and Territory authorities. Their voices should and must be taken into account in the preparation of Australia’s next report to the UN CRC Committee due in January 2024.

Speakers

Tahlia Nesfield, Amnesty Youth Advisory Group Representative

Gavin Choong, Amnesty Youth Advisory Group Representative

Abbey Marler, Amnesty Youth Advisory Group Chair

Harrison Oates, UNICEF Australia

Tom Saxton, Youth Affairs Council Victoria (YACV)

Theo Boltman

Siosiua Veikune, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC)

Josaia Tokoni, Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS)

Angus Lonergan, UNICEF Australia Child and Youth Engagement Manager, will end the round-table by drawing the lessons learnt from the young people’s presentations.

Moderator

Associate Professor Faith Gordon, Deputy Associate Dean of Research, ANU College of Law, The Australian National University and Director of the International Youth Justice Network.