Empowering young voices for the future of youth health

The Matilda Centre has an ongoing commitment to ensuring that young people are consulted in the development of policy and research affecting them.  We are thrilled to have been commissioned by NSW Health to lead the development of the NSW Strategy for Young People’s Health and Wellbeing 2025+.

Led by Dr Amy-Leigh Rowe, Melissa Gray, Camilla Sedgwick and a Matilda Centre team alongside colleagues in NSW Health, the Strategy will be informed by a mix of high-quality research, a recent evidence check, and consultations, including:

• NSW Health Staff
• Young people
• Senior Representatives from Government Organisations
• Researchers and Subject Matter Experts
• Professional and Peak Bodies
• Partner Providers

The policy will be for all NSW Health staff and services and aims to ensure that 12-24 year olds in NSW are healthy, safe and well.

In collaboration with the NSW Ministry of Health, Western Sydney Local Health District (LHD) and Sydney Children’s Hospital Network, the Youth Health Consultation Forum brought together young people from across NSW to share their feedback and insights on a range of topics with a particular focus on how to deliver high-quality person-centred health care.

Over 100 young people attended the metropolitan site at Westmead in Sydney, with a further 200 attending at one of 21 rural and remote satellite sites across NSW. Teams from Western Sydney LHD, Sydney Children’s Hospital Network and the Matilda Centre worked together closely to ensure that the day was engaging, culturally safe and accessible for all, with a range of activities to cater for the interests of each young person.

Participants from rural and remote sites participated in two workshops facilitated by local NSW Health staff and overseen by Dr Rowe. These workshops were ‘Health Minister for the Day’ and ‘Design your Perfect Health Service’.  It was inspiring to hear the voices of young people from some of the most remote parts of NSW contributing to a strategy that will directly affect their health now and into the future. At the Sydney event there were six workshops that addressed different aspects of health and wellbeing for young people:

• Feedback and feedforward –reviewing the work done so far on the Strategy and ideas for future development
• Design your perfect health service – to propose exactly what young people want from all elements of health care
• Influencer for a day – understanding how to communicate important health messages to young people
• Health Minister for a day –youth health and wellbeing priorities and where to allocate resources
• Living in a utopia/dystopia –understanding the long-term consequences of investing vs not investing in youth health & wellbeing
• Youth advocacy –capturing young people’s perspectives on the best ways to advocate for their needs

Feedback and ideas from the workshops provided a solutions-based approach to health and wellbeing that will be used by the Matilda Centre team to inform the writing of the new Strategy document.  

Three artists who attended the workshops captured the perspectives of young people and the essence of the day through multiple lenses. It is hoped that elements of the different artworks produced by the talented live scribes, illustrator and Aboriginal artist will be included in the document.

Overall, the day was rated as 4.5/5 by young people and feedback suggests that events like this are an important opportunity to come together, talk about relevant issues and to find solutions.

In July 2024, the team held a Roundtable discussion in Dubbo, NSW, bringing together a diverse range of stakeholders to hear about their perspectives on the priorities for the next Strategy, with a focus on rural settings.

Those present included:

• Local Aboriginal Elders
• NSW Health
• University of Sydney School of Rural Health
• Local schools
• Dubbo Regional Council
• Community and partner providers
• Charity organisations
• Young people

Participants identified mental health, lack of physical activity, screen time, and service navigation as being key issues impacting the health of young people. The Roundtable explored opportunities to address accessibility, transition between services in rural and metropolitan locations, prejudice and bias, workforce shortages and health literacy.

As 2024 winds down, the consultations continue to ensure that young voices from across NSW are being considered in the next Strategy.

In October, a final Knowledge Translation Workshop will be facilitated by the Matilda Centre. The half day event will bring together more than 100 stakeholders, including at least 25 young people, in person and online. These stakeholders will learn more about the Strategy and provide feedback for the proposed Implementation Plan.

 The Matilda Centre team have worked hard to capture a variety of perspectives during the drafting of this document with the voices of young people central to every step of the process. We are grateful to the many people who have contributed to this Strategy through sharing their time and expertise.

NSW Health will release the new NSW Health Strategy for Young People’s Health and Wellbeing 2025+ in early 2025.