Young people in Macarthur aged 21 and under are invited to submit a 90 second speech on What should Australia’s new Parliament accomplish? for their chance to have their speech read out in Federal Parliament by Dr Mike Freelander during Youth Voice in Parliament week (21-24 November).

Dr Freelander will join nearly 80 Federal MPs from across the country to elevate the voices of young people in Federal Parliament as part of the Raise Our Voice in Parliament campaign organised by Raise Our Voice Australia together with UNICEF Australia and the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition.

“I strongly support the Youth Voice in Parliament program, as it promotes an understanding and appreciation of politics and political movement in our future leaders,” Dr Freelander said.

“I would encourage anyone who is interested in this initiative to get involved and have your say.”

Ashleigh Streeter-Jones, founder and CEO of Raise Our Voice (who has been recognised by Forbes and the Australian Financial Review for her work getting more young women into politics), said that last year’s campaign saw 603 speech submissions from across the country with 96% of participants sharing they wanted their voices heard.

“92% of post-campaign survey respondents said that participating in the campaign made them more likely to participate in politics in the future, with climate the issue most written about,” Ms Streeter-Jones said.

Last year,  Dr Freelander amplified the voice of 14 year old Sabri on the need to embrace new technologies.

“I would love to see big retailers manufacture technology in Australia; it will boost our economy and our job growth and also we will need to embrace and create new master piece technologies, such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology in Australian industries, and reduce emissions to maintain a globally competitive equal quality lifestyle for our citizens,” Sabri had written.

The Raise Our Voice in Parliament campaign is open to anyone living in Australia aged 21 and under. Speech submissions are open until 19 October.

To submit a speech, visit raiseourvoiceaustralia.com/youthvoice.