Women in Australia make up just over half of the Australian population and 47.9% of all employed persons yet leadership, decision-making and priority setting has largely been in the hands of men. Any democratic framework needs to take into consideration gendered perspectives and equal representation of both women and men.

Though the Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is both a small Parliament and a Small Branch of the CPA, there is no such thing as being too small to have big expectations for how Parliamentarians will behave and conduct themselves.

We have all heard the expression, “you cannot be what you cannot see.” I think to an extent this rings true to younger voters. Voters may feel like they cannot see themselves, or their demographic, represented in their Parliamentarians. This may at times leave some feeling disenfranchised with our political systems and the decisions that ultimately affect them.

If Parliaments don’t engage with young people, that’s over a third of the population that aren’t part of the conversation. Having young people as part of the conversation can only positively extend into their adult lives as these foundational experiences carry them through. In this article, I will share what we’ve learnt from young people, and what young people have told us through our youth engagement work at the Parliament of Victoria.