Ministerial Youth Advisory Council

The Ministerial Youth Advisory Council (MYAC) was established in 2017 to provide advice to the Minister for Youth on matters relating to young people. MYAC is comprised of up to 12 young Western Australians, aged 15 to 25 years, who draw upon their relevant knowledge, experience and skills.
Last updated:

The Ministerial Youth Advisory Council is a consultative advisory body made up of 12 young Western Australians who are passionate about using their voice to speak up on issues that are important to young people.

Members have the opportunity to develop their leadership skills and provide advice on a range of Government initiatives, which aim to improve outcomes for young people in Western Australia.
The structure of MYAC is reflective of WA’s diverse population and members represent their peers based on their own experiences and unique perspectives as a young person.

Council members are remunerated in recognition of the important principle of valuing young people’s contributions.

Membership of the MYAC is for an initial two-year term, with a possible one-year extension. Successful candidates join a merit pool and will be appointed to the Council when a position becomes available.

What has MYAC done in the past?

MYAC has provided advice to the Minister for Youth on a range of topics. For example, they prepared a paper detailing how the State Government could strengthen support for young people who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Asexual and other diverse sex, sexuality, and gender (LGBTIQA+).

The Government took on board their feedback and provided funding to the Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia (YACWA) to establish an advocacy body for LGBTIQA+ young people in WA. As a result, the Youth Pride Network was created and works to ensure all LGBTIQA+ young people are fully included, accepted, and celebrated by their communities.

Other topics that MYAC have provided advice to Government on include:

  • Infrastructure WA: State Infrastructure Strategy Discussion Paper ‘A Stronger Tomorrow’
  • Youth unemployment
  • Youth Mental health
  • Response to the release of ‘All Paths Lead to a Home: Western Australia's 10-Year Strategy on Homelessness 2020–2030
  • Residential Tenancies Act review 2019
  • Stronger Together: WA's Plan for Gender Equality
  • Review of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (WA) exceptions
  • Law Reform Commission review of Gender Reassignment Laws
  • Western Australian Youth Health Policy 2018-2023
  • Young carers and review of the Carers Recognition Act 2004
  • PBS Drug removal
  • HADSCO publications feedback
  • Violence in schools sub-committee
  • Access to services and support for regional young people
  • Youth Leadership
  • Support for young Aboriginal people in education.

Members of MYAC

  • Christopher-John (CJ) Daudu (Co-chair)
  • Caitlin Eaton
  • Maeson Harvey
  • Alicia Roe 
  • Kiana Yasso
  • Naomi Blitz
  • Sara Al Husseini
  • Lilijana Nicholls
  • Zachariah Cawdron
  • Benjamin Caulfield
  • Mia Westera
A group photograph of the Ministerial Youth Advisory Council members

Co-chair bio - Christopher-John (CJ) Daudu

Christopher-John (he/him) is a 22 year old student from Perth. He is passionate about empowering young people to use their individual and collective voices to ensure decision makers take young people into account.

Christopher-John has worked for and with young people in a number of capacities such as in the UWA Student Guild, where he’s served as Vice President, the National Galley of Australia Youth Council and the Sir David Martin Youth Advisory Group. Christopher-John is also passionate about supporting creative outlets for students to find their voice and as such co-founded a student radio station on campus at UWA which he now manages, providing students with opportunities to grow their skillset and hone their media voice and agency.

Christopher-John has been involved in the Ministerial Youth Advisory Council since 2021 and has found the experience to be formative in helping build capacity to engage substantially with government stakeholder and leverage the power of policy solutions to enact lasting change.

The opportunity to meet and develop relationships with a cross section of passionate youth advocate across WA has also been extremely rewarding, as is the privilege to be in a position to be a voice for the needs of young people in WA.

One of the pieces of work Christopher-John is most proud of is the report MYAC tabled to the Minister regarding youth leadership in WA and how to equip young people to engage in the political process and gain more agency in shaping the future of their communities.

Head and shoulders photograph of 22 year old Christopher-John Daudu, who is the MYAC Co-chair

Announcements

Sidebar