The NSW Advocate for Children and Young People (ACYP) consults with children and young people from a diverse range of backgrounds, interests and experiences.
Throughout all the consultations polls and focus groups that they have performed, children and young people expressed the need to have easy access to opportunities, activities, services and events across NSW.
According to a recent press release, the Our Local website was developed in response to the needs of the children and the young people.
What is Our Local?
Our Local is a directory website co-designed with children and young people under the age of 24 in NSW and developed by the ACYP and other NSW Government agencies, which aims to bring all the information they outlined into one accessible place.
Thousands of opportunities, activities, services and events are provided by NSW Government and non-government partners who work with, by and on behalf of children and young people.
What are the Benefits?
The key benefits of the Our Local website include:
- Our Local is free for anyone who wishes to promote opportunities, activities, services and events to children and young people.
- Our Local will be promoted locally and across NSW with many cross-promotional benefits and synergies of the collated information being together in one place.
- Our Local is a NSW Government initiative designed to meet the diverse expressed needs of children and young people across NSW.
How to be included?
The organisations that are eligible to be included on Our Local should fit the following criteria:
- The organisation should be any of the following: A NSW Government department agency; A non-government organisation (NGO) that receives funding or grants from a NSW Government department or agency.
To add, the organisation should be a Local Government office; An Australian Government department or agency; or a registered Active Kids or Creative Kids provider
- The organisation provides for those between the age of 0 and 24 years old and in the state of New South Wales.
- The organisation provides any of the following: Opportunities such as creative programs and educational opportunities; Activities like sports and recreation programs and community activities.
It should provide services that include support, aid and care services; or Events such as Youth Week, festivals and local events
- The organisation understands that anything published includes specific opportunities, activities, services or events that are safe and inclusive for children and/or young people under 24 years of age in New South Wales.
Also, no alcohol is available or present at anything published and that anything published is a government program or part of a program that receives government funding or grants.
Lastly, the publisher is an official representative of the organisation and is delegated to provide information on behalf of the organisation.
What is the ACYP?
The Advocate for Children and Young People is an independent statutory office reporting to the NSW Parliament, through the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Children and Young People.
They work to improve the safety, welfare and well-being of all children and young people in NSW.
