About Us

Risk Management Policies

This page contains links to a number of specific policies and gives additional information about how the YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament Executive and the YMCA seek to manage risks associated with the program. Don’t worry, there are no obvious dangers to participating in the program but it is important that the Executive consider and document any potential risks and list policies that we have in place to overcome them. These policies reflect a sample of the extensive risk management strategies we have in place and those published are the policies most likely to directly affect Youth Members.

YMCA of Brisbane Policies (which apply to YMCA QYP):

Privacy Policy

Safeguarding Children and Young People

Website Use Terms & Conditions

YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament Policies (which specifically apply to YMCA QYP):

Consent Form Policy

This policy applies to activities conducted within the YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament program which involve appointed Youth Members.

Signed consent is required from Youth Members for participation in the program as a whole

This consent covers limited disclosure of personal information, storage and use of the Youth Member’s name and image for promotional purposes, participation in events and other matters       documented on the form

Parent/Guardian signature is required for all Youth Members aged under 18 years

Records of consent will be held on file

Should consent be required but not received on time, the following procedure will be enacted:

Attempts to gain written consent will be repeated

Verbal consent will be accepted if necessary but written consent must be obtained retrospectively

If no consent can be gathered, participation in events requiring consent will not be permitted

Sponsorship Policy

This policy applies to sponsorship of individual Youth Members to cover their participant fee or any other costs required to participate in the program.

Applicants should not seek sponsorship prior to acceptance to the program

Sponsorship prior to acceptance does not guarantee selection as a Youth Member nor is it considered part of the selection process

Ample assistance with finding sponsorship will be provided after Youth Members are appointed

Sponsorship and what it entails is a contract between the sponsor and the individual who receives the assistance

Transportation in Private Vehicles

On certain occasions during the program, participants may be required to travel in a privately owned vehicle driven by a member of the Youth Parliament Executive. It is acknowledged that this practice is not ideal but it is practically necessary.

Examples of circumstances in which this is necessary include:

Collection of participants from the airport prior to the Forum

Dropping participants at the train station at the end of Residential

Transporting a participant suffering travel sickness to Parliament House from Camp

Except in extraordinary circumstances, all travel during residential is via chartered bus. Due to smaller numbers and varied arrival times, this is not an option for collection/drop off just prior to/just following program events. The executive will not collect or deposit Youth Members outside of these times unless specific private arrangements have been made.

In order to minimise the risks of travel in private vehicles, the program has a number of safeguards in place:

Photocopies of Executive Drivers’ Licenses are kept on file

Written assurance is given by the owner of the vehicles in use that they are regularly serviced and in good condition

All drivers travel via prearranged routes and drive safely

At no time will only one participant and one Executive member be driving in an Executive driven car

Written permission is given by the Chief Executive Officer of the YMCA Brisbane for private transportation to be used

For the sake of clarity and openness, these policies are publicly available but they do belong to the YMCA and/or YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament and are copyright.

Who? What? When? Where? How?

Who?

QYP is open to any person from the ages of 15 to 25 (inclusive). The only prerequisites are interest and enthusiasm, as we teach you about anything you’ll need to know about Parliament. To apply fill out a nomination form here, and applicants will be chosen by the executive to represent each electorate. If you miss out one year we encourage you to reapply, as selections are always very close, but unfortunately there are a limited number of places in the program.

What/Where?

                Forum and Launch

Forum is held over two days in Brisbane where Youth Members can meet for the first time to form committees and discuss ideas. The program also has its official launch held at Queensland Parliament House.

                Meetings Phase

Committees meet either in person, via phone or via internet to write their Bills and design and implement community action plans. GoogleApps is used so that Youth Members can edit documents online and easily share ideas, which is ideal not only for rural Youth Members who may not be able to attend meetings in person, but for busy Youth Members who find it easier to contribute online.

                Residential

Residential week is where all Youth Members stay at YMCA Camp facilities at Petrie and go into Queensland Parliament House to debate Bills in the House of Representatives. Various social activities are also organised to ensure a fun, albeit busy, week for everyone.

                Reunion Dinner

The reunion dinner is an opportunity for Youth Members past and present to reaffirm their friendships and reflect on the last years program.

When?

How is it Run?

The YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament is an initiative of the State Council of YMCA’s of Queensland Inc. and is operated by the YMCA of Brisbane. The Brisbane YMCA employs a co-ordinator who works with the executive team to run the program. The executive are a team of volunteers selected from past participants by a panel of the co-ordinator, the past Youth Governor (who is elected by the executive at the beginning of each year) and a YMCA representative. 

About The Program

The YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament is a Queensland Studies Authority accredited community education program for young people all around Queensland. For well over a decade QYP has been providing an apolitical environment where participants can engage with community issues as youth representatives. As well as providing an important link for Youth to influence Government, QYP is a fantastic opportunity for participants to improve confidence through interacting with participants of varying backgrounds and opinions. There are three main facets to the program; Parliament, Community Engagement and Personal Development. All three aspects are facilitated throughout the program by the Executive to accomplish the ultimate aim of building better communities by building the leaders of tomorrow in Body, Mind and Spirit.

Parliament
To begin the parliamentary aspect of the program, Youth Members break into Committees based on an area of interest and are assigned a mentor experienced in parliamentary protocol and legislative writing. Committees then discuss issues which they feel need to be tackled until they strike upon something the entire committee would like to debate in Queensland Parliament House. At this point the Committee will break in half so that one side will write a Bill (the Sponsoring Team) and another side writes amendments to improve this Bill (the Refuting Team). For examples of past Youth Bills and Amendments see Past Debates. Once these have all been written, Youth Members will assemble  in Brisbane for one week in the September-October mid-semester break and  argue for and against their ideas in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland's Parliament. Youth Bills which are passed by the Youth Parliament will be signed by the Youth Governor and passed onto the Members Queensland Parliament for consideration.

Community Engagement
Similar to the Parliamentary Committees, Youth Members once again break into smaller groups based both on interest and also on their region of Queensland, to encourage cooperation between Youth Members within certain areas of Queensland. Each Regional Committees is assigned a mentor and together will identify and discuss problems and issues within their community and devise practical action plans to respond and address these issues. In the past committees have worked with groups such as Family Planning Queensland and Drug Arm, whereas other committees have chosen to set up various events or infrastructure using their own resources. The main aim is to encourage greater community involvement on any level, and show Youth Members how easy and enjoyable these activities are and how integral they are in supporting meaningful change in the community.

Personal Development
While the challenges of working with new people and learning new skills lend themselves to personal development, QYP aims to provide a supportinve community in which participants can build these skills. As well as the Recreational Officers specifically dedicated to the emotional wellbeing and self confidence of participants, the entire Executive team always aims to put participant's personal development first. Participants are encouraged to "get amoungst it" and take every opportunity provided to help develop their public speaking skills and more importantly, their ability to listen and learn from eachother. Additionally by supporting an apolitical environment, every participant is given the opportunity to self - determination and expression, free to reflect and develop their own ideas and values away from partisan influence.  

EXECUTIVE OF THE 15th YMCA QUEENSLAND YOUTH PARLIAMENT