St Joseph’s College pupil Blake Medbury represents Albany electorate in the 30th Youth Parliament in Perth

Taking part in the Y WA Youth Parliament is an opportunity to enact positive change for the community, according to Bayonet Head teenager Blake Medbury, who was Albany’s representative in the annual forum. Blake, 17, a student at St Joseph’s College in Albany, was selected to represent the city’s electorate at the caucus which brings young people from all over WA to Parliament House in Perth. He was one of 58 young parliamentarians and said the process had given him a new-found confidence. “It was public speaking with a fun twist because everyone was smiling, and everyone was always supportive,” he said. “It was such a great environment, where everyone listened to what you had to say. “It made quite a change from what you get on social media.” The time in WA’s Parliament was the culmination of a four-month, non-partisan leadership and civic engagement program. The forum took place from July 7-10. Eight committees with varying government portfolios were formed, each researching a policy area and working together to draft a bill they felt tackled important community issues. Blake was drafted onto the agriculture, food and fisheries committee to discuss the primary producer resilience and recovery insurance scheme bill. This aimed to establish an insurance scheme to help producers recover after a natural disaster and to improve on the completion rate of sustainability goals. Blake said he was able to bring a regional voice to the proceedings and was happy the bill was passed unanimously when it came to a vote. The ATAR student is an army cadet and hopes to join the Australian Defence Force when he finishes school. He said Albany’s young people should apply to be part of the Youth Parliament to give a voice to the city. “I feel it really makes an impact,” he said. “The bills get handed to the ministers and many changes have been made as a result of the Youth Parliament.” For example, the Youth Parliament passed a bill against coercive control in 2020, before the Family Violence Legislation Reform Bill 2024 was passed in the WA Parliament in September 2024. The program is a YMCA initiative designed to give young people aged 16-25 a chance to be heard at the highest levels of State government. It was the Youth Parliament’s 30th meeting and it took place with backing from the Parliament of WA, the WA Department of Communities and Wormall Group WA.