Young people from diverse backgrounds, including those who are migrants, refugees, or asylum seekers, bring a rich tapestry of cultures and languages to Queensland (and Australia as a whole). They play a vital role in shaping the cultural, social, political, and economic landscape of our community, in addition to being future leaders of Australia.
While it’s crucial to incorporate the needs of young individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD) into broader youth policies and strategies, there’s often a necessity for specific, targeted initiatives. These initiatives are designed to address the unique needs and intersectionality experienced by young people from these diverse backgrounds.
The Youth Ethnic Network (YEN) is an established group consisting of young leaders who currently or previously had leadership positions in their communities. YEN is hosted by the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland (ECCQ) and is dedicated to integrating the issues and concerns of young individuals from CALD backgrounds into various government policies, projects, and initiatives. The goal is to ensure that no young person is left behind in our collective pursuit of a more inclusive and supportive community.
What we do
The YEN seeks to bring together youth from CALD background in Queensland in their early 20s-30 to share information and work together to:
- Identify, discuss and address challenges relevant to improving the wellbeing of young people from CALD backgrounds.
- Organise activities to facilitate opportunities which respond to and highlight the needs, rights and contributions of CALD youth in Queensland.
- Encourage CALD Youth’s active participation in decision making processes regarding issues that affect their lives in accordance with social justice, access, and equity agenda.
- Network and cooperate with other groups to broaden awareness of key issues and develop collaborative solutions which seek to improve the status of Youth in Queensland and nationally.
- To inform ECCQ on young people’s issues and ensure their voice in ECCQ advocacy to all levels of government and non-government sectors in areas of policy and service delivery, and to develop a holistic approach to improving outcomes for youth from CALD backgrounds in Queensland.
What we aim for
YEN provides a platform for collaboration, addressing challenges that impact the wellbeing of CALD youth. By organising activities and events, YEN highlights the needs, rights, and contributions of young adults while ensuring their voices are heard in decision-making processes. The network promotes social justice, access, and equity, encouraging active involvement in shaping the issues that affect their lives.
YEN partners with other groups to raise awareness and develop solutions to improve outcomes for CALD youth in Queensland and nationally. It also supports ECCQ’s advocacy by amplifying young adults’ perspectives in discussions with government and non-government sectors.
Youth Toolkit Development
We currently seek to identify young people (under 30) interested in contributing to the development of the Youth Toolkit for Queensland. The toolkit aims to strengthen youth advocacy, leadership, and representation across multicultural communities. By sharing your insights and experiences, you will help ensure the toolkit reflects the real‑world experiences, needs, and priorities of young people across Queensland.
If this is you, please click the button below and fill out the Expression of Interest.
Youth Toolkit Development (EOI)Become a YEN member
YEN membership is free and open to young people interested in supporting youth from diverse backgrounds, representatives of CALD specific youth organisations, other organisations that have focus on CALD Youth; and/or organisations that have youth from CALD backgrounds as their main client group.
To become a YEN member, please continue to the following Membership form.
Reach out to Youth Ethnic Network if you have any questions.
