Two Broken Hill locals are representing the Far West region on the NSW Government’s 2023 Regional Youth Taskforce.
Faith Devlin and Max Burrows are both championing LGBTQIA+ rights and education in the community and will be ensuring their voices are heard on the 18-member state taskforce.
The Regional Youth Taskforce – now in its fourth year – brings together young people across regional NSW and provides policy and operational advice to the Minister for Regional Youth, Ben Franklin.
The Taskforce allows members to have their say on the ways the government can improve outcomes for young people in regional NSW and deliver better services, focusing on the key pillars of the Regional Youth Framework – wellbeing, connectivity, work ready, and community.
Over the course of the year, the taskforce will hold four meetings with Minister Franklin, either online or in person and on either weekends or during school holidays, with the first one scheduled to be held in Tamworth this month.
For Faith Devlin, seeing other young people in town apply to be a part of the taskforce in recent years and the change they’ve made prompted her to take advantage of the rare opportunity to be involved.
“My two biggest things, which I’ve learnt from my experience living in Broken Hill all my life, has been regarding around queer issues,” they told us.
“I’m a non-binary lesbian and so that hasn’t been the easiest time throughout my life, especially socially, but I know that I’m not alone in that. I know there are so many other queer kids, not just in Broken Hill but everywhere,
we’re everywhere, that need that recognition, that need that support.
“This also leads into the second one, which is health education and with that specifically, mental health because that is such a massive problem and again, not just in New South Wales, it is nation-wide, it is global, but it is a massive thing in Broken Hill.
“The suicide rate of our teenagers is quite high so that’s something I’d really like to talk about and bring my concerns and the concerns of other young people in Broken Hill to the Youth Minister.”
“I think the biggest thing that drives change is culture and so seeing other people, different cultures with different experiences, that is a priceless experience that you can have.
“I think that the best thing that me personally, that I could get out of this, would be to meet all of these new people from around regional NSW and to see how they think about their problems, how they go about it, because it’s great to have that many different people in a room cause that’s when real change happens.”
Max Burrows, who is genderqueer, echoes the idea around joining the Taskforce, and as the co-founder of Prideful Broken Hill and the Rainbow Shoelace Project, is looking forward to making a difference and using their voice within a room full of other youth from regional NSW.
“For me, it means me and other people’s voices [are] being amplified because people don’t really listen to regional youth a lot and I feel like our voices need to be heard and this is a perfect opportunity for that. I’m hoping that I can help make a difference,” Max said.
“I’m really aiming to get LGBTQIA education up there because a lot of people don’t know about it and I think it’s something that’s really important, especially as our community’s growing.
“I think us coming together and talking about things we think matter in our community would altogether help make NSW better.”
PICTURE: Faith Devlin and Max Burrows are joining the NSW government’s 2023 Regional Youth Taskforce, representing the Far West region. NOEL FISHER
