YAP is the southern youth sector group, which is convened by Hobart City Council. The role of YAP is to identify issues that impact on young people, take responsibility for those issues and raise or refer them to appropriate forums.
Some of YAP's achievements include:
Hobart City Council's National Youth Week Events have consisted of a community concert in St David's Park and a Youth Forum at the Hobart Town Hall.
The community concert has been a huge success with attendance at the event peaking at about 800 people and approximately 3,000 people attending the event throughout the day. The line-up has featured 12 different performers as well as 16 youth services and support from several major businesses in the Hobart area. The atmosphere of the event had a community feel to it and celebrated young people in the community in a highly accessible way.
The forum addressed the questions - What are the perceptions of young people? Should they be changed? If so how? The forum invited community and business leaders to join with young people to explore the questions together. The forum provided an opportunity for young people and adults present to have an open discussion about the way young people are perceived in the Hobart community. Around 70 young people and community and business leaders were present on the day to hear from keynote speaker Professor Rob White and break into groups to examine the current issues of youth driving, underage drinking, entertainment and public open spaces, and public transportation and safety.
The most recent school project was the professional recording of High School musicians on a CD known as Polyphonic Culture, which as then given to schools to distribute. There was a high standard of performance and musical material from the students, who were able to experience first hand the recording industry from the process of developing original material with their music teachers, to recording, mastering, printing and distributing the product. Young people also had an opportunity to work with a student from the University of Tasmania's School of Graphic Art on the CD design.
The North Hobart Cultural Park and in its surrounding environs are a popular community location, particularly the Skate Park area. Hobart City Council has youth workers who build relationships with the young people accessing the Skate Park; reporting maintenance and other issues to relevant Council staff on a regular basis and delivering or facilitating a range of recreational activities including skate workshops in partnership with local business, like Red Herring Surf.
Council have also facilitated the establishment of the Skate Park User Reps (SPUR) committee to provide direct consultation with young people using the facility.
The Hobart City Council's Street Youth Work Program provides support, advocacy and referral for young people on Thursday and Friday nights between the hours of 6-9pm during the summer months. Youth workers work in teams of two and deal with the young people's issues as they arise whilst out at key locations on the streets of Hobart. These issues can include accommodation, intoxication, personal threat and material needs. Workers also promote the services that Hobart City Council's Youth Action Resource Centre (Youth ARC) deliver.
The youth workers' role has been to:
