25 Jun 2021
My name is Vivien van Luyt and I am representing Engadine High and the seat of Heathcote in the 2021 Y’s New South Wales Youth Parliament. On Tuesday 7th June I was lucky enough to be invited for my own private tour of NSW State Parliament.
Youth Parliament consists of an eight-day camp where participants are split into committees and develop bills on issues important to them ahead of debate on the floor of NSW Parliament. At the end of camp, all pieces of youth legislation are presented to NSW Members of Parliament for consideration. I am on the Education committee and our bill is about sex education curriculum reform.
My tour was organised by Lee Evans, who also paid for me to be able to participate in the program and the camp. On my tour I was surprised by a meeting with the Honourable Sarah Mitchell. Ms Mitchell is the Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning for NSW. It was a real honour meeting with Ms Mitchell and being able to discuss both my experiences as a public-school student and my ideas about the future.
Since its inception in 2002, NSW’s Youth Parliament Program has played an instrumental role in shaping public discourse and policy, with around two thousand participants and approximately half a dozen pieces of NSW Youth Parliament legislation being passed into NSW Law, including the recent Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme.
I am so thankful for my tour of Parliament. It was an unforgettable experience and I am so honoured to hold this position in Youth Parliament. The ability to make a real-life difference is absolutely amazing.
Vivien van Luyt
Year 11
