MITCHELL Shire Council (MSC) has unveiled its new Youth Council for 2026-27, with four new Youth Councillors joining six previously elected council members.
As ever, the Youth Council was open to those aged 12 to 24 years old, who are keen to make a community impact, while also serving as an advisory committee to the MSC and the Youth Development Program.
All three North Ward councillors will hold senior positions, with Evie Birks elected as Youth Mayor, Jacob Hard elected as Deputy Youth Mayor and Jess Stevens holding the title of Youth Secretary.
Two new Central Ward Youth Councillors were elected, with Allison Bickerdike and Dusty Norton joining Elaina Harrison and Senior Youth Councillor Phoebe McDonald.
There are also two new South Ward Youth Councillors, with Cooper Sargeant and Charlotte Enever elected, as was River Challis.
The swearing in of the new Youth Council was held last Monday night prior to MSC’s monthly meeting.
This year’s Youth Council is the 15th that has been elected, with MSC Mayor Councillor John Dougall saying it now holds a bit of history.
“It has a bit of history now, and it is serving a purpose, so it’s great to see it continue,” he said.
“This Youth Council will have a strong role to play over their tenure for the next 12 months. In terms of a strong role, what does that look like? It probably looks like a unified voice, made up of young people.
“Who better to understand the needs and aspirations of young people than a group of youth who are representing their peers and their representing their peers from all across Mitchell Shire, which is great to see.”
Cr Dougall was hoping to see the Youth Council build on a successful 2025-26, which saw it introduce a mental health pop-up clinic.
“This Youth Council is like other representative committees. It’s a clear and distinct purpose,” he said.
“These Youth Councillors will meet regularly, they’ll attend events and functions, they’ll deliver specific programs and these events, based on health and wellbeing, are portfolio areas.
“Each Youth Councillor gets a distinct portfolio that they govern or manage on behalf of the others, and each Youth Councillor selects one major area for their time and effort. They’ll advocate for a distinct piece of change in one area as a collective, which has proven to be, I think, a successful model.
“A previous Youth Council identified mental health as the core subject, and they successfully won money through the State Government to run a mental health pop-up clinic and that operated across the Shire. I hope it did lead to some good conversations that helped young people, and I think it’s provided an example and a model to further advocate for money to make that a more permanent feature.”
Cr Dougall also said the challenges for youth in the area continues to be complex and will listen to input.
“When you think about it, the challenges for youth are probably becoming more profound. I don’t think they’re getting simpler. Areas like pervasive gambling advertising, it could be the uptick in illegal tobacco products that are really driven into a youth market, it could be the social media engagement and the challenges that come with that, and we’ve seen recent laws about limitations to access to social media as a mitigation to that,” he said.
“There’s no shortage of challenges that our young people do face, and it’s important that we have a group that will consider those issues and be prepared to provide their input.”
