Indigenous Voices of the Next Generation
October 2025
At Co-Ground, we believe that meaningful impact comes from long-term partnerships that are driven by communities themselves. That’s why we are proud to have supported the Youth Parliament program run by The Y Northern Territory (Y NT) for a second consecutive year, funding the participation of 7 Indigenous young people.
Youth Parliament is a non-partisan advocacy and leadership program run by young people, for young people.
The program empowers young Territorians to learn about democracy, develop policy ideas, and advocate for issues that affect their communities. Participants research real challenges facing their peers, write mock legislation, and debate their ideas inside the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory - building confidence, leadership and public speaking skills along the way.
This program is particularly important in the Northern Territory context. While young people aged 16–24 make up approximately 13% of the Northern Territory’s population, they are significantly underrepresented in the average age of local councillors and members of the Legislative Assembly. Youth Parliament provides an opportunity for young people to strengthen their civic knowledge and develop the confidence to participate in democratic processes now and into the future.
The 2025 Northern Territory Youth Parliament brought together young people representing schools, councils and community organisations from across the Territory. Over the course of the program, Youth Parliamentarians worked together to develop a bill or petition addressing an issue affecting their communities, before debating their proposals during a week at Parliament House.
“We have been able to apply the funding to all areas of support for the remote participants which has been extremely beneficial to the program.”
-Leesa Bryen, YNT
Supporting Indigenous participation from remote communities
Co-Ground’s funding specifically supported seven Indigenous participants to attend the program, including participants travelling from remote communities. Funding also supported two chaperones and cultural support people, ensuring the teams from remote communities could participate safely and meaningfully.
This support made it possible for young people who might otherwise face barriers to attend the program, ensuring their voices and perspectives could be represented.
Building Confidence and Leadership
Through the program, participants strengthened their leadership capabilities, developed teamwork skills, and built connections with other young people across the Northern Territory.
One participant reflected on the experience:
“Actually realising how powerful my voice is and learning how to speak with conviction, especially when talking about something I am passionate about.”
The program’s impact is reflected in the experiences of the young people who took part:
92% of Youth Parliamentarians felt supported by those around them to be who they are
91% believed their experiences and identity matter when shaping decisions in society
95% believed young people should have more say in decisions that affect them
A Trust-Based Partnership
Co-Ground practices trust-based partnerships, ensuring our support strengthens, rather than shapes, the community-led initiatives we fund. Programs like Youth Parliament demonstrate the value of backing locally designed solutions that empower communities and create opportunities for young people to lead.
By continuing to support initiatives like the Y NT Youth Parliament, we are investing not only in individual leadership journeys, but in the future civic participation and representation of young people across the Northern Territory.
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